Rory MacDonald is no longer a Bellator fighter, having signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) in 2020. While this promotion change has opened the door to some new and exciting matchups for MacDonald, it has seemingly closed the door on a trilogy fight between MacDonald and reigning Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, who are currently tied 1-1 across two previous bouts.

Yet MacDonald doesn’t see it that way.

Speaking to MMA Junkie ahead of the final PFL card of the year, MacDonald expressed some optimism that he and Lima could still settle their score sometime in the future.

“It is what it is, you know?” MacDonald said. “Who’s to say we won’t meet up later down the road? We’re not in the same organization at the moment, but I still see myself fighting for a long time, and maybe he is too. You never know where our paths cross again. I don’t worry about it too much. Competition, he won one, I won one, c’est la vie. On to the next.”

In the same interview, MacDonald opened up on decision to leave Bellator in favor of the PFL.

“Bellator had the opportunity to, you know, not have me as a free agent,” MacDonald said. “But I think just between this organization and wanting to take the risk on free agency, there was discussion, and obviously Bellator, they had their interest. But when it came time that I was able to talk to other promotions, I wanted to play the field. I wanted to see what options were out there, and the best option out for me was PFL.”

Do you think we’ll ever see Rory MacDonald and Douglas Lima fight again? Who do you think would come out on top?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/1/2020.