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By Kelsey Mowatt Macdonald Defeats Doerksen for UCW 3 Upset Jason "the Athlete" Macdonald defeated top-ranked Canadian middleweight Joe Doerksen this past Saturday, October 23rd in Winnipeg, Manitoba at Ultimate Cage Wars 3. Macdonald pulled off the upset victory in front of Doerksen's hometown fans by submitting his opponent in the fourth round via rear naked choke. Macdonald's victory marks his second consecutive win in a row, as the Athlete also defeated another highly regarded Winnipeg fighter, Chris Fontaine, with the same move at September's Maximum Fighting Championships 8. Previously, Macdonald had dropped four fights in a row against solid opposition in Jason Brilz, Matt Horwich, Marvin Eastman and Shonie Carter. The losses to Eastman, Brilz and Carter were all by judges' decision, while Horwich submitted Macdonald by armbar at the Extreme Fighting Championships 3 in October 2004. Macdonald appears to be settling into his new weight division nicely, a move to middleweight that the Red Deer native made when he fought Carter at TKO 21. Despite hometown favorite Doerksen losing the main event fight to Macdonald, the 2,500 fans that attended UCW 3 were treated to a four-round, back and forth headliner fight that saw both fighters nearly finish the fight before it's eventual stoppage. Says UCW promoter Krzysztof Soszynski, "The main event was great. This was the first real main event at UCW and the two fighters put it all on the line!" In the first round, Macdonald defended a rear naked choke attempt by Doerksen only to later land a solid elbow that almost stopped the fight early by opening a serious cut on Doerksen's forehead. Although the ringside doctor allowed the fight to continue, the cut would come to be the deciding factor in the bout, according to Doerksen. "The cut changed the fight for me in every way," Doerksen said. "I had planned on standing with him for most of the fight, but that changed as soon as I was told that one more punch to the cut and the doctor would stop the fight. The five-round fight would not have been an issue, but after the cut I was not able to relax and wore myself out trying to protect the cut and fight at the same time." Doerksen, knowing the fight might be stopped, continued to his submission efforts in the hopes of securing the victory before the cut became more serious. "A few times I thought I was close to getting a sub," explained Doerksen, "especially at the end of the second round when the bell rang. I felt that I could have ended the fight there." The third and fourth rounds of the main event saw Macdonald take over the fight, utilizing his strong ground and pound skills. The Athlete wore down Doerksen and secured his victory by submitting the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with a rear naked choke. Doerksen knew he was in for a great fight in taking on Macdonald and gives his Canadian peer full credit for defeating him. "I knew it was a tough fight," said Doerksen. "Even before I got hurt, I didn't expect anything less than a great fight from him. I'm sure he has a bright future and I wish him all the best." The loss brings Doerksen's record to 32-8, while Macdonald's improves to 10-5. Doerksen plans on taking a brief break from fighting until his return to action in 2006, when he hopes to begin an extensive winning streak. "I need some time to rest. I have been very busy recently," Doerksen explains "and feel like I've pushed myself a little too hard for too long. I am going to be spending most of my time in Utah with Jeremy Horn and hope to fight again in February or March next year. I will come back as I always do - healthy, happy, and ready to whoop some ass." With back-to-back wins against two of Canada's better middleweights, Macdonald is once again attracting the attention that was going his way when he stormed through Anthony Rea at the Absolute Fighting Championships 8 in May of 2004. After putting together yet another well-attended event, Ultimate Cage Wars will return in 2006. As for promoter/fighter Krzysztof Soszynski, his attention now turns back to his own professional career. Soszynski will put his 9-2 record on the line against 2-0 Martin Desilets at November 5th's TKO 23 in Victoriaville, Quebec. " I am in London with Team Tompkins and training very hard," Soszynski tells FCF. "I have picked up the intensity on my training and everything is going as planned." |
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