Getty Rory MacDonald will defend his title against Jon Fitch.
Headlining Bellator 220 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Saturday night, Rory MacDonald will put his welterweight title on the line against Jon Fitch in the first round of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix.
The prelims start at 7:30 p.m. ET and the main card starts at 10 p.m. ET. Neither will be televised on regular cable in the United States, but you can watch a live stream of all the fights on DAZN.
DAZN, which also has exclusive broadcasting rights in the US for the fights of Canelo Alvarez (next fight: next weekend, May 4 vs Daniel Jacobs), Anthony Joshua (next fight: June 1 vs TBD) and Gennady Golovkin (next fight: June 8 vs Steve Rolls), costs either $19.99 per month or $99.99 for a year, which comes out to just over $8 per month.
So, essentially, you can get Bellator 220, tonight’s Prograis vs Relikh title fight, Canelo’s next fight and several other upcoming events for much cheaper than a normal PPV.
You can start a monthly or yearly subscription of DAZN right here, and you can then watch a live stream of MacDonald vs Fitch and all the fights on your computer via DAZN.com, or on your phone, tablet, smart TV, Roku, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the DAZN app.
Bellator 220 Preview
Despite overlapping for three years in the UFC welterweight division, MacDonald and Fitch have never scrapped.
Fitch, 12 years his opponent’s senior, told MMA Junkie the promotion resisted letting up-and-coming welterweights into the octagon with him.
“(Former UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva said to (American Kickboxing Academy coach) ‘Crazy’ Bob (Cook) a while ago that they didn’t want to risk younger guys’ careers fighting me too early,” the 41-year-old said. “So I fought a lot of guys who were really tough, who didn’t have names, who weren’t people they were planning on building.
“That’s the problem we have with our sport. It’s not really run like a production, like they’re putting on a pro wrestling event.”
Fitch won the first eight UFC fights of his career before falling to Georges St-Pierre in a title bout at UFC 87. He claimed the World Series of Fighting welterweight belt in 2016, defending it twice before debuting in Bellator with a victory over Paul Daley in May 2018.
The veteran has a chance to claim a third career belt in a third promotion.
“I’m in an amazing spot,” Fitch said, according to Sporting News. “I have a championship clause in my contract, so I’ll get paid more money per round. It’s doubly good. I’m going to be the champion and make more money in each round afterward.
MacDonald also lost a UFC welterweight title bout, against Robbie Lawler in what was dubbed the UFC Fight of the Year at UFC 189 in July 2015. He lost his next bout, against Stephen Thompson, before heading for Bellator.
He claimed the title from Douglas Lima in his second Bellator fight, then attempted to become a two-weight champ, failing to capture Gregard Mousasi’s middleweight belt.
“[Fitch is] going to be one of the better wrestlers I’ve ever faced, so it’s going to be interesting,” MacDonald told The Telegraph. “I never got a fight offer for Jon in the UFC, we didn’t meet up until now. I was on my own path, growing as a fighter and developing in the UFC. Camp’s gone really good.”
He added: “I think Jon has a lot of strengths. He’s durable, he’s ready to fight hard every time he’s in there. Obviously his strength is wrestling and his control. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t punch hard, he’s a grimy fighter. As far as what I want to prove, I want to go out there and dominate. I want to show my championship level.”