UFC welterweight contender Rory MacDonald may only be 1-1 in his past two fights, but that isn't stopping him from angling at a shot at new champion Johny Hendricks in front of his home crowd.
Just minutes after "Bigg Rigg" defeated Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC welterweight strap in the main event of UFC 171 Saturday, MacDonald tweeted his short-term plans to capture UFC gold.
Who wants to see me fight @JohnyHendricks in vancouver for the @ufc welterweight title? Bringing the title back to canada!! @danawhite
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) March 16, 2014
"Ares" most recently received Fight of the Night honors at UFC 170 for pulling out a hard-fought decision win over submission wizard Demian Maia last month.
Prior to that bout, MacDonald suffered a disappointing split-decision loss to Lawler at UFC 167 in November.
Despite the bump in the road, the Tristar Gym fighter has won six of his past seven bouts and is the No. 4 welterweight in the world, according to the UFC's official rankings.
Also in the 24-year-old's favor is the fact that Lawler just came up short in his title bid, and Carlos Condit—who, like Lawler, is ranked above MacDonald—suffered a knee injury that cost him in a pivotal matchup against Tyron Woodley at UFC 171.
Sherdog reports that "The Natural Born Killer," who owns a TKO victory over MacDonald, likely suffered a meniscus tear—and perhaps even an ACL tear—so he will inevitably be on the shelf recovering for a while.
There are no guarantees for MacDonald, though, as Woodley, Hector Lombard and even ex-Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz are also clamoring for the next crack at Hendricks.
Given the current landscape of the UFC's welterweight title picture, does Hendricks vs. MacDonald make the most sense right now?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
