Hailing from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, the tough middleweight told Sherdog.com that the UFC called the day after his most recent victory over Neil Berry (Pictures) at MFC 10.
“It’s been a long time coming and I’m excited to finally get my opportunity,” said MacDonald, whose ledger stands at 16-7-0.
MacDonald has long stated publicly that the UFC is where he belongs, and to convince them he has always sought high caliber opponents to better showcase his skills.
“It’s exciting,” MacDonald said via phone him from his hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, “but it’s one of those things where I’ve been fighting UFC caliber guys for awhile now. So I don’t have that awe that some first timers have. I don’t have the jitters that a lot of guys would have. I’ve been in the cage lots of times. I’ve been in the cage against UFC veterans in front of big crowds.”
When asked about Herman, who last fought in the TUF 3 finals against Kendall Grove (Pictures)s, MacDonald said that they’ve met before.
“He cornered Matt Horwich (Pictures) when I fought him,” the Canadian recalled. “I think Ed knows that I’m not a pushover. He’s well aware that he’s in for a fight. I think he realizes that he hasn’t been given an easy go this time around.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to fight on international television in front of millions of people, and to be given the opportunity to fight someone like Ed Herman (Pictures), who has already been made somewhat of a star by the UFC.
“So my victory over him will propel me right into the middle of the middleweight division in the UFC.”
A confident statement from the middleweight.
“I am confident,” he said. “There’s no room for doubt at this point of the fight. I’ve prepared well. I think I match up pretty well against Ed Herman (Pictures). He’s a great fighter and comes from a great team, but I see a few holes in his game and I hope to go out there and exploit those weaknesses.”
One of these preparations included a trip east to Montreal for 10 days to train with BTT Canada, including Brazilian jiu-jitsu mastermind Fabio Holanda (Pictures) and current TUF contestant Patrick Cote (Pictures).
Both Holanda and Cote were impressed with what they saw.
Holanda expressed that MacDonald’s conditioning was the best he’s seen in his life, and Cote indicated that he’s 100 percent confident that MacDonald will win, going so far as to predict a victory in the second round.
Some people aren’t so confident however.
When told about the UFC online poll that had 86.7 percent selecting Herman to be the victor, MacDonald wasn’t upset at all; in fact he offered this sage opinion:
“That’s U.S. fans of the UFC. Those aren’t people that are involved in the fight world. There’s a lot of experienced fighters that have been in the UFC and been around [and] they’re predicting it to be the fight of the night.”
“I’ll be the underdog,” handicapped MacDonald. “I love being able to go out there and surprise everybody and prove that I’m as good as I know I am.”
When asked for a prediction, his answer carried a sense of bemusement, like he’s in on a secret that nobody else knows.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to end,” he said, “but I have the tools to end it lots of different ways.”