For a brief moment at Bellator 220, it looked like the biggest opportunity of Neiman Gracie’s career was in jeopardy.
Welterweight champion Rory MacDonald had just narrowly retained his title with a majority draw against Jon Fitch in the opening round of the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix, which meant that he would advance to the semifinals to fight Gracie. At least that’s how it was supposed to work.
Post-fight, MacDonald delivered a thoughtful speech in which he explained that some of the difficulties he experienced against Fitch may have stemmed from a hesitation to “pull the trigger” and that he was unsure if he had “that same drive to hurt people anymore.