{"id":310820,"date":"2019-04-26T05:57:36","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T12:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=310820"},"modified":"2019-04-26T05:57:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-26T12:57:38","slug":"pro-fighters-make-their-picks-for-rory-macdonald-vs-jon-fitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/exclusive-interviews\/pro-fighters-make-their-picks-for-rory-macdonald-vs-jon-fitch\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro fighters make their picks for Rory MacDonald vs Jon Fitch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the main event of Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald will look to defend his welterweight title against <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/exclusive-interviews\/exclusive-jon-fitch-preparing-to-shock-the-world-in-bellator-220-main-event\/\">Jon Fitch<\/a>. Not only will MacDonald be putting his belt on the line, but it will also be the last matchup of the first round of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their picks for the fight. And, they all are leaning one way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is what they had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4>BJPENN.com Fighter Picks: Rory MacDonald vs Jon Fitch<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Devin Clark, UFC light heavyweight:<\/strong> I like Rory MacDonald, he is a tough dude so I am going with Rory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kyle Nelson, UFC featherweight:<\/strong> I am going with Rory MacDonald. I think he is a little more of a complete fighter. He has a better standup than Jon Fitch and his wrestling will nullify Fitch\u2019s offense. I also have to back my Canadian guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/exclusive-interviews\/exclusive-ilima-lei-macfarlane-welcoming-another-title-defense-in-her-second-home\/\">Ilima Lei-MacFarlane<\/a>, Bellator women\u2019s flyweight champion:<\/strong> I see Rory taking it. Even though Jon is a veteran and will do what he has to do to win, Rory is the younger buck. I think Rory will win. How, I do not know, maybe by decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Max Griffin, UFC welterweight:<\/strong> Rory by second round TKO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Diego Ferreira, UFC lightweight:<\/strong> Rory by first round TKO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alex Perez, UFC bantamweight:<\/strong> Rory by TKO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Leslie Smith, Bellator women\u2019s featherweight:<\/strong> Rory is my pick. He has been around GSP long enough to have some good counters for the wrestling\/smothering game of Fitch. I think it will be a KO in the third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Fighters picking Rory MacDonald: Devin Clark, Kyle Nelson, Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, Max Griffin, Diego Ferreira, Alex Perez and Leslie Smith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Fighters picking Jon Fitch: None<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This article first appeared on&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><em>BJPENN.COM<\/em><\/a><em> on 4\/25\/2019.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the main event of Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald will look to defend his welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Not only will MacDonald be putting his belt on the line, but it will also be the last matchup of the first round of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54463,"featured_media":310817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[44,2674,10569,10146],"tags":[39617],"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>Pro fighters make their picks for Rory MacDonald vs Jon Fitch | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the main event of Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald will look to defend his welterweight title against Jon Fitch\ufeff in the first round of the grand prix.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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