The most devastating blow of Jason MacDonald’s mixed martial arts career was not even delivered by an opponent and yet it almost ended his fighting career.
After spending seven months working his way back into the world’s premier league for mixed martial arts, it all came crashing down 2:42 into his comeback fight against John Salter on May 8, 2010, in Montreal at UFC 113.
MacDonald attempted to pick up Salter for a takedown and his ankle rolled underneath him.
It snapped like a twig.
He looked down only to see his foot sticking out at a 90-degree angle from the rest of his leg.
“The skin is an amazing thing — it stretched but it didn’t break,” said the Red Deer fighter of his injury.
The skin was about the only thing that didn’t break.
MacDonald suffered a fracture dislocation, breaking both the tibia and the fibula while tearing the ligaments off the bone.
To put him back together, Red Deer surgeon Dr. Bryce Henderson used two steel plates and 10 to 12 screws.
“In Montreal, they put me under and reset my ankle, put a cast on and flew me home the next morning. Fortunately, my ankle was operated on by Dr. Henderson and he told me after the surgery that is was a pretty bad injury, that I sustained some pretty bad damage in there, but he felt he did the best he could and that he had returned it to almost as good as new as he could get,” said MacDonald.
“It took some time to get the range of motion back and get the strength back, but now I really feel it is back to where it was.”
MacDonald (24-14-0 overall, 5-6-0 UFC) says he should not be hindered when he makes his latest comeback against Ryan Jensen (15-7-0, 2-5-0 UFC) in Toronto at UFC 129 on April 30.
After four years and 10 fights in the UFC — in which he had earned three submissions-of-the-night and one knockout-of-the-night bonus cheques — he was let go by the organization when he lost three of four fights.
MacDonald earned his comeback shot after dropping back down to the Maximum Fighting Championship in Edmonton and winning three of his next four fights in a six-month span.
He caught UFC president Dana White’s eye and got a call to fight Salter — a young hot-shot — as an emergency replacement on two week’s notice.
Despite taking an early advantage in the match, disaster soon struck.
“I was on a real good win streak and up until that exact moment happened, I felt fantastic in the fight. I felt like I was going to knock the guy out — I had his timing down,” said MacDonald “It was unfortunate that that did happen . . . but I remember that feeling and I expect to return to that exact same moment come April 30.”
It was MacDonald’s first major injury in a dozen years of competitive fighting and it was a devastating one.
While he didn’t wallow in self pity, for a time he certainly thought it could be the end of his career in the octagon.
“For me it was never ‘Why me?’ or ‘Poor me.’ I put myself in that position. I fight for a living and I know the consequences of fighting,” said MacDonald. “I did some serious soul searching. I thought ‘I’m 35 going on 36, can I recover from this? Can I recover from this serious of an injury and return to a UFC level?
“I battled with it for a while. I was back and forth, ‘Should I retire? Is this it? Do I really want to keep doing this?’
“When you’re injured and a bit bummed out, you start asking yourself those questions. But as I got healthier, I got healthier physically and then I got healthier mentally. As I started to get back in shape and more mobile and started to do the things I love to do, my mental motivation came back and my confidence in my abilities came back . . . I came to the conclusion that, yes, this is what I want to do — at least for little while longer.”
At the forefront was the team surrounding him, led by his wife of 10 years Kelly MacDonald and four kids — sons Tristin, 12, and Keel, nine, and daughters Jett, five, and Tru, three — Dr. Henderson, his coach Josh Russell, sports therapist Jeff Marchand, physiotherapist Keith Webber and other friends, staff and coaches he works with at his gym Pure Fitness & MMA.
“A lot can be said about having a great support system,” said MacDonald.
Russell said he actually responded fairly well.
“The first week back from Montreal he was down. . . . But he’s not the kind of guy to get his spirits down. He has a pretty positive outlook on things,” said Russell, who has worked with McDonald since 2005.
The road back wasn’t easy.
He does have the advantage of owning his own gym but he had to learn to pace himself. He almost had to learn to submit to the ankle before he could move on.
Rehabilitating was something new. Being known for his fitness — his UFC nickname is the Athlete — the ankle responded very well. This got MacDonald excited and his manager talked White into booking him for a return Dec. 11 in Montreal at UFC 124 against Rafael Natal.
However, after ratcheting up his training it became obvious that the comeback was premature.
But now MacDonald says he is 100 per cent healthy.
He insists he doesn’t even think about the ankle anymore.
“I was training with (MacDonald) last weekend and I got him in a leg lock and I stopped for a second and said, ‘Is that your bad ankle?’ and he said ‘I don’t have a bad ankle,’ ” said Russell, a second-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. “He’s really confident in it and his gas tank is always running on premium and is very fuel efficient.”
MacDonald’s focus is on Jensen and only Jensen.
“Ryan Jensen comes from a wrestling background,” said MacDonald. “He’s susceptible to being submitted. So those are two good things that weigh heavily in my favour. I do well against wrestlers because they want to take you down and my submissions are good. And I’ve been in there with tougher guys in the stand-up area than Ryan Jensen. So Ryan Jensen doesn’t pose many concerns for me. Not that I’m taking him lightly by any means or saying any fight is a sure win, but I feel I match up well against him.”
The fight is huge for both competitors, who are basically fighting for their jobs.
UFC has bought out most of its main competitors, like the WEC and Pride, creating a giant pool of fighters with very few options for fighting at the top level. Think Original Six NHL.
“The truth of the matter is I feel the loser gets his walking papers,” said MacDonald. “I lost my last fight by injury, but a loss is a loss. Ryan Jensen lost his last fight. So your back’s against the wall no matter who you are. Two fights ago you could be fighting for a belt and then lose your next fight and you could be out of the UFC. That’s the reality of the UFC, if you’re not performing they’re going to cut you and bring in someone who will.”
MacDonald couldn’t be coming back on a bigger stage.
He has already been apart of the three biggest tickets in the sport’s history but UFC 129 is guaranteed to break every box office record the organization has by using the Rogers Centre as it’s venue and being the first MMA event ever in Ontario.
MacDonald owns a successful gym, runs his own fighting promotion business and he has done some broadcasting.
But he just wasn’t ready to walk away.
“As long as someone is willing to pay me and as long as I’m able to make a living doing something I love to do, I’m going to continue to do it,” said MacDonald.
“That being said, I don’t want my career to become a mockery. I don’t want to be that guy just going out there, collecting a paycheque and getting his ass kicked. I won’t let that happen. I have far too much self-esteem and pride in myself and my career to let that happen.
“The moment I feel I have lost the edge, or lost a step and I’m no longer relevant, then I will retire.”
jaldrich@www.reddeeradvocate.com