Jason Macdonald vs. Rafael Natal in the works for UFC 124
After Jason 'The Athlete' Macdonald was brought back to the Ultimate Fighting Championships to fight in front of his fellow Canadians at UFC 113 in May in Montreal, he shocked fans by suffering a horrific
leg break early in the fight. With his original re-entry into the UFC only having been granted because of a Canadian card, his future with the promotion seemed in doubt, but on Wednesday it was reported that he’ll fight at UFC 124 against Rafael Natal, once
again in Montreal.
The news was first reported by mmafighting.com and confirmed by Dominance fighting, Natal’s management company on Twitter, who wrote
“Dominance fighter, Rafael 'Sapo' Natal to fight Jason MacDonald [on] December 11 on UFC 124 in Montreal, Canada."
The fight will be at the middleweight limit of 185lb.
Surprisingly, Macdonald is re-entering the cage only seven months after suffering his gruesome injury. It is likely that he must have had little choice if he wanted to fight in the UFC again, with a Canadian
card perhaps being his only chance. His cast was removed on 1 July, and on 5 August, he tweeted that he’d “jumped today for the first time in almost 3.5 months!”
Macdonald is 24-14 over his career, and is known for his grappling skills. He has a career record of 5-6 in the UFC (including his broken leg loss), but was cut from the promotion after a second consecutive
loss in April 2009. He then racked up a record of 3-1 before getting his shot against at UFC 113.
Natal, on the other hand, only recently gained his shot into the UFC. The Brazilian has a record of 12-3, with mostly submission wins. He got his chance in the UFC after beating former UFC middleweight contender
Travis Lutter, but lost in his first ever fight on 15 September to Rich Attonito by unanimous decision.
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