Rory MacDonald responds to Paul Daley’s callout at Bellator 170

Right after knocking out Brennan Ward with what will undoubtedly by one of the best knockouts of 2017, Paul Daley worked swiftly. He took the opportunity in his post-fight interview with Jimmy Smith to call out Rory MacDonald, who has yet to make his Bellator debut.

“If Rory MacDonald gets in the cage with me, he’s getting knocked the fuck out,” Daley said.

It did not take very long for MacDonald to respond, as you might expect. The former UFC top welterweight contender posted a video of actor Zach Galifianakis laughing moments after Daley’s challenge.

Daley (39-14-2) finished Ward with an ultraviolent sequence that started with a spinning back elbow and finished with a flying knee. Ward was down for quite some time and needed to be carried out on a stretcher in a frightening scene.

Daley, 33, has won six of his last seven fights, with the lone loss coming to current Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima in July. The British fighter has long been one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the 170-pound division.

MacDonald (18-4) would present quite the interesting challenge for “Semtex.” The Canadian lost two straight before signing with Bellator as a free agent, but the defeats came against former champion Robbie Lawler and current top contender Stephen Thompson. The Lawler fight was one of the greatest of all time. MacDonald, 27, is still regarded as one of the top fighters in the division and he owns wins over the likes of current UFC champ Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Nate Diaz.

“The Red King” has said he does not want to fight again until healing fully from a broken nose issue, which came about following the bout with Lawler. MacDonald was targeting a summer return as of a few months ago.