UFC
Rory MacDonald getting ready for December return, wants to fight more often
Sep 26, 2012 - 2:45:15 PM Rory MacDonald getting ready for December return, wants to fight more often

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Rory MacDonald is nearing a return to training camp following a nasty cut suffered late this summer. The UFC welterweight was scheduled to face B.J. Penn at last weekend's UFC 152 event in Toronto, but he received a cut over his right eye in sparring that required nearly 40 stitches, and he's been unable to return to full training.

Appearing on Tuesday's new edition of "UFC Tonight" on Fuel TV, MacDonald updated his status, and said he's closing in on a return to camp to begin preparations for the Penn fight, which has since been moved to UFC on Fox 5 in December.

"I'm feeling a lot better now," MacDonald said. "I'm able to do technique, hit pads and do conditioning. That brings up my spirits, rather than sitting on my ass. I'm putting what happened behind me and starting camp in two weeks."

MacDonald did say some changes will be coming for him, as he's growing impatient with longer fight camps and wants to make faster turnarounds between fights moving forward.

"It's been tough [waiting for my injury to heal]. I'm ready to fight right away," MacDonald said. "I'm not one to sit on the sidelines. But it seems like I can't stop getting injured in training. I'm going to make changes in how I prepare for fights and to do things my way from now on. It's going to let me fight a lot more. I'm going to take fights on shorter notice. I'm learning from the older guys and see how they prepare for fights, like the two months of training camp. I'm tired of that. I'll fight more often."

Penick's Analysis: MacDonald has a bit of a sore spot for his training team at the moment. He's battled some injuries while at Tristar, and this most recent one happened because of an overzealous sparring partner. Though he said he'll remain with Tristar, he sounds like he's taking a different approach to things going forward, at least as far as how he does things in camp. Hopefully any changes made can help him avoid injury, getting him through this camp to face Penn on the now-stacked UFC on Fox 5 event in Seattle.