Firas Zahabi shuts down talk of Rory MacDonald retiring

After Rory MacDonald fought to a majority draw against Jon Fitch in the first round of the welterweight grand prix, his post-fight comments caused quite a stir.

“I don’t know what to say,” MacDonald said post-fight. “I landed some good stuff in there, I don’t know. It’s hard to sometimes pull the trigger now. I don’t have that killer inside. It’s really hard to explain. But I hesitate a little bit now. It wasn’t my best performance.”

Immediately following Rory’s post-fight comments, many fans took to social media wondering if this was it for the current Bellator welterweight champion.

However, MacDonald’s head coach in Firas Zahabi doesn’t believe the ‘Red King’ will retire. Rather, Zahabi believes his pupil still has a lot of fight left in him.

“A lot of fighters go through these kinds of things. He’s not the first guy to see both sides of fighting — the good part, the darker part — and then kind of come to these realizations,” Zahabi said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA show, of MacDonald, who is scheduled to face Neiman Gracie next in the semifinals of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix. “Right after a fight, you’re so full of emotions. The pendulum might swing the other way. He might want to fight and continue and that’s what I think will happen.

“I really feel like he has a lot of fight left in him … he’s a natural-born fighter. I think he’s going to continue on his journey. “

Ultimately, no one truly knows what is going through MacDonald’s head right now except for Rory. But, his coach remains confident that his slated bout with Neiman Gracie will still happen this June.

Do you agree with Firas Zahabi’s comments? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/29/2019