Alberta’s own Jason MacDonald doesn’t back down from a fight, that much is fact.  “The Athlete” is back in action December 13th at The Ultimate Finale in Las Vegas when he fights Wilson Gouveia at 185 pounds.  MacDonald joins me on Sportsline Saturday this Saturday at 2:25, so make sure you listen in.

The last time we talked to Jason was before his fight at UFC 87 in August.  He lost that fight, then fought again September at UFC 88 and now here he is again fighting in mid-December.  This will be MacDonald’s 4th fight in 2008, and it’s pretty plain to see he’s a gamer.  Whenever you talk to MacDonald, you get the feeling he just loves what he does.  A former Mount Royal College volleyball player, MacDonald made his UFC debut just over 2 years ago with a win over Ed Herman.  His UFC record now sits at 5-3, with a 21-10 record overall.

Lets take a look back at MacDonald’s last few fights.  At UFC 83, he made quick work of fellow Canadian Joe Doerksen with a 2nd round TKO.  he had beaten big names like Herman, Chris Leben, and now Doerksen and had also showed very well in losses to middleweight mainstays Rich Franklin and Yushin Okami.  The UFC likes him, so they gave him a shot against a top flight opponent in the unbeaten Demian Maia.

The fight against Maia was tough from the outset.  The guy wasn’t just a skilled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, he was a straight up BJJ master.  MacDonald had a great gamepland heading in, however he didn’t follow it.  The last thing you want to do when fighting a guy like Maia is take him down and get in his guard.  Once you’re in his guard, he starts working his submissions, and when you’re fighting against a master, you’re going to get caught.  Now, credit Jason, he escaped a tight traingle choke, kept his composure when mounted, and escaped a rear naked choke.  However, he eventually submitted to a rear naked choke in the 3rd round.

After the fight, MacDonald blogged on Sportsnet.ca about how mad he was at himself.  He had the gameplan but he didn’t follow it.  So, he decided to get right back on the horse to get things back on track, and that’s exactly what happened at UFC 88 with a 2nd round submission win over Jason Lambert.  It was exactly what MacDonald needed, and it gives him another opportunity to string together a few wins.

However, his opponent on the 13th is no slouch.  Gouveia is another BJJ black belt, so MacDonald needs to make sure his execution is a little different than it was against Maia.  That’s no shot at Jason, he’s very skilled in the submission game as well, and his defence is great.  Gouveia has an MMA record of 11-5 and is coming off a submission win in September.

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