{"id":250299,"date":"2017-09-28T07:46:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T14:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=250299"},"modified":"2017-09-28T07:46:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T14:46:01","slug":"former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UFC title challenger Michael McDonald makes his Bellator debut this December"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last few years, Bellator MMA has signed<a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bellator\/report-viacom-tells-bellator-officials-sign-every-single-big-name\/\"> a procession of high-profile free agents<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/gegard-mousasi\/report-gegard-mousasi-found-new-home\/\">One of the finest free agents<\/a> they&#8217;ve picked up to date is Michael McDonald, a former UFC bantamweight who once fought Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight crown.<\/p>\n<p>McDonald&#8217;s Bellator debut is now set, per <a href=\"http:\/\/mmajunkie.com\/2017\/09\/michael-mcdonald-bellator-debut-england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MMAJunkie.com<\/a>. He&#8217;ll make that debut when Bellator takes over the\u00a0<span>Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England on December 15. His opponent has not yet been made official, but should be announced soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>McDonald will enter the Bellator cage with 17-4 overall record. In his last fight, which occurred July of 2016, he was knocked out by elite bantamweight contender <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/john-lineker\/john-lineker-returns-ufc-fight-night-119-october-28\/\">John Lineker<\/a>. His next most recent fight was an impressive win over Masanori Kanehara. This win was preceded by a submission loss to Urijah Faber, a submission win over Brad Pickett, a submission loss to Renan Barao, and a thunderous knockout of Miguel Torres. This hot-and-cold stretch was preceded by a 15-1 start as a pro.<\/p>\n<p>Recent losses aside, McDonald immediately stands out as one of Bellator&#8217;s top bantamweights. He is likely just a win or two shy of a shot at the title.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"730\" height=\"380\" src=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Eduardo-Dantas.png\" alt=\"Eduardo Dantas\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-250302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Eduardo-Dantas.png 730w, https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Eduardo-Dantas-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Eduardo-Dantas-585x305.png 585w, https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Eduardo-Dantas-390x203.png 390w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That title is currently held by Eduardo &#8220;Dudu&#8221; Dantas, though that could change at Bellator 184 on October 6, when he battles red-hot contender Darrion Caldwell. Other current stars of the Bellator bantamweight division include Joe Warren, Marcos Galvao,\u00a0Joe Taimanglo, Leandro Higo and LC Davis, any number of whom could serve as the opponent for Michael McDonald&#8217;s debut.<\/p>\n<p>Who do you want to see Michael McDonald fight in his Bellator MMA debut this December? Join the conversation in the comments section!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0on 9\/28\/2017.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last few years, Bellator MMA has signed a procession of high-profile free agents. One of the finest free agents they&#8217;ve picked up to date is Michael McDonald, a former UFC bantamweight who once fought Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight crown. McDonald&#8217;s Bellator debut is now set, per MMAJunkie.com. He&#8217;ll make that debut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":250300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10126],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former UFC title challenger Michael McDonald makes his Bellator debut this December | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former UFC title challenger Michael McDonald makes his Bellator debut this December | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the last few years, Bellator MMA has signed a procession of high-profile free agents. One of the finest free agents they&#8217;ve picked up to date is Michael McDonald, a former UFC bantamweight who once fought Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight crown. McDonald&#8217;s Bellator debut is now set, per MMAJunkie.com. He&#8217;ll make that debut [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-28T14:46:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Michael-McDonald.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Former UFC title challenger Michael McDonald makes his Bellator debut this December\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-28T14:46:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-28T14:46:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Michael McDonald\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2017\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\",\"name\":\"Former UFC title challenger Michael McDonald makes his Bellator debut this December | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-28T14:46:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-28T14:46:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/former-ufc-title-challenger-michael-mcdonald-makes-bellator-debut-december\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Michael McDonald\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-mcdonald\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Former UFC title challenger Michael McDonald makes his Bellator debut this December\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; 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