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UFC legend who left fighting at 33 reveals hardest part about MMA retirement

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Chris De Santiago | Last updated Mar 30, 2025 5:43 PM ET

For a time, Rory MacDonald says fighting became "who he was".

In 2025, the former UFC title challenger and Bellator welterweight champion has been out of the fight business for almost three years now, now living a more peaceful and quiet life with his family.

MacDonald's decision to retire came at 33, not inside the UFC Octagon or the Bellator cage, but in the PFL in 2022. MacDonald hung up the gloves following a TKO loss to Dilano Taylor in the PFL playoffs, his 34th fight as a pro.

MacDonald left the UFC not too long after his 2015 'Fight of the Year' against Robbie Lawler at UFC 189, perceived as one of the greatest fights of all time. MacDonald sliced through the lip of then-champ Lawler in the battle but lost the war in the fifth and final round, taken out with punches.

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What's Rory MacDonald doing now?

At 35 years old, MacDonald's life looks much different than it did back then, fighting against the best in the world: BJ Penn, Tyron Woodley, Douglas Lima (twice), and more.

"It is been really good," MacDonald said of retirement on Tim Welch's Red Hawk recap. "Definitely different.

"I've been doing mixed martial arts as a professional since I was a teenager, so transitioning to different things, it's a bit different, but life is good. Super happy.

MacDonald had his very first MMA fight at 16 years old and by 20, he was already in the UFC.

In retirement, "The Red King" says he spends his days day trading and managing his rental properties. MacDonald still trains in martial arts.

Rory MacDonald says he struggled with identity after retirement

On the podcast, UFC veteran Joe Riggs asked MacDonald how he struggled with retirement when he first put down the gloves.

"I think like identity for sure," MacDonald said.

"[When] I was a teenager when I like fell in love and like started competing as a professional, it just like became who I was.

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"I guess just finding like what I'm here for and like what am I supposed to be doing? What good can I do in this world with my time? Trying to still discover that," MacDonald said nearly three years after his retirement.

The longtime UFC Welterweight is a Christian, saying he's never needed a self-help book outside of the Bible.

"That's probably the only book I've really like, tried to apply to myself, dive into," MacDonald added.