UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs. Thompson | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Daniel Cornmeat
- May 20
- 7 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs. Thompson took place on Saturday, June 18, 2016 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 to 964,000 average viewers (1.13M peak, 312k FS2 prelims). The card drew 10,490 fans for a gate of $1,278,250. It was the first UFC event held in Ottawa and the 20th UFC event in Canada. The main event was a five-round welterweight contest between the #1 ranked contender Rory MacDonald and #2 ranked Stephen Thompson — with the winner earning the next UFC welterweight title shot.
Thompson won by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 48-47) in a technical display of footwork, distance management, and counter-striking that frustrated a pressing MacDonald across all five rounds. It was Thompson’s seventh consecutive win and he immediately became the mandatory title challenger. MacDonald never fought in the UFC again — he signed with Bellator MMA. Donald Cerrone TKO’d Patrick Côté in the co-main. Bossé/O’Connell earned Fight of the Night. Cerrone and Jotko earned Performance of the Night.
Ottawa’s UFC Debut & MacDonald’s Final UFC Fight
Ottawa — Canada’s capital, with a population of approximately 1 million in the greater area — had not previously hosted a UFC event despite Canada’s commercial significance as one of the UFC’s strongest international markets. TD Place Arena, home of the Ottawa RedBlacks and the Ottawa 67s, holds approximately 11,000 for combat sports events. The Fight Night 89 sellout of 10,490 demonstrated Ottawa’s appetite for MMA. The card’s Canadian construction — MacDonald, Côté, Saggo, Aubin-Mercier, Theodorou, Markos, Bossé, and Cirkunov were all Canadian or Canadian-based fighters — reflected the UFC’s consistent policy of loading Canada cards with domestic talent.
Rory MacDonald’s contract situation defined the fight’s narrative beyond the athletic result. He had turned down the UFC’s contract renewal offer and was fighting out the final bout of his existing deal. A win would make him a free agent with maximum leverage; a loss would complicate his negotiating position. Thompson’s dominant decision removed the leverage entirely. MacDonald subsequently signed with Bellator MMA, where he continued competing through 2022.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, June 18, 2016
📍 Venue: TD Place Arena, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (FIRST UFC event in Ottawa; 20th UFC event in Canada)
👥 Attendance: 10,490
💰 Gate: $1,278,250
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 — 964,000 avg. viewers (1.13M peak, 312k FS2 prelims)
🏆 Main Event: Rory MacDonald vs. Stephen Thompson — Welterweight (#1 vs. #2 contenders; WW title shot at stake; MacDonald’s last fight on contract)
✅ Result: Thompson def. MacDonald via Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 48-47); 7th consecutive win; title shot earned; MacDonald left for Bellator
Main Event: Thompson’s Technical Masterclass Over MacDonald
Stephen Thompson’s karate-based stance-switching, his ability to maintain distance with front-leg kicks, and his counter-striking timing were tools that MacDonald’s forward-pressure game had no effective counter to across five rounds. MacDonald’s most productive strategy was forward stalking with right hands and jabs, combined with clinch attempts. Thompson’s lateral movement denied the clinch, and his counter-striking accuracy made MacDonald’s advancing expensive. Rounds one through five consistently produced 10-9 rounds for Thompson across two of three judges; one judge scored a single round for MacDonald on the 48-47 card.
The Ottawa crowd, heavily Canadian-aligned and MacDonald-supportive, witnessed a performance that did not match the blood-and-thunder narrative of MacDonald’s UFC 189 Lawler war. Thompson’s victory was described in post-fight media as a brilliant technical performance rather than an entertaining spectacle — a distinction that divided fan reactions between admiration for Thompson’s execution and disappointment that MacDonald had not generated competitive offence. The post-fight result established Thompson as the unambiguous next challenger for Robbie Lawler’s UFC welterweight title.
Cerrone, Bossé, Jotko & The Supporting Card
Donald Cerrone’s TKO of Patrick Côté in round three was his third consecutive welterweight win since moving from lightweight after the RDA loss at UFC 194. Cerrone’s PoN cemented his status as the most bonus-prolific fighter in UFC history at that point — his 12th performance bonus across both weight classes. Côté, the Montreal-area welterweight who had fought Georges St-Pierre for the UFC WW title at UFC 94 in 2009, was stopped in front of a Canadian crowd for the second time in his later career.
Steve Bossé and Sean O’Connell’s light heavyweight fight earned Fight of the Night with a competitive and entertaining three-round performance. Krzysztof Jotko’s 59-second KO of Tamdan McCrory earned Performance of the Night. Misha Cirkunov’s arm-triangle submission of Ion Cutelaba was a LHW early-career fight between two fighters who would become genuine contenders — Cutelaba later developing into one of the UFC’s most explosive LHW prospects. Colby Covington’s preliminary win was one of his early UFC career appearances before his welterweight title run.
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Stephen Thompson def. Rory MacDonald — Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 48-47) — Welterweight (7th consecutive win; title shot earned; MacDonald last UFC fight — left for Bellator)
Donald Cerrone def. Patrick Côté — TKO (punches) — R3, 2:35 — Welterweight (PoN $50k; Cerrone’s 3rd consecutive WW win; 12th UFC performance bonus)
Steve Bossé def. Sean O’Connell — Unanimous Decision — Light Heavyweight (FotN $50k each; entertaining fight)
Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Thibault Gouti — Submission (RNC) — R3, 2:28 — Lightweight
Joanne Calderwood def. Valérie Létourneau — TKO — R3, 2:51 — Women’s Strawweight
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 2 / UFC Fight Pass)
Jason Saggo def. Leandro Silva — Split Decision — Lightweight
Misha Cirkunov def. Ion Cutelaba — Submission (arm triangle) — R3, 1:22 — Light Heavyweight (both future LHW contenders)
Krzysztof Jotko def. Tamdan McCrory — KO — R1, 0:59 — Middleweight (PoN $50k; 59-second finish)
Joe Soto def. Chris Beal — Submission (RNC) — R3, 3:39 — Bantamweight
Elias Theodorou def. Sam Alvey — Unanimous Decision — Middleweight (Theodorou Canadian; wins at home)
Randa Markos def. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger — Unanimous Decision — Women’s SBW (Markos MISSED WEIGHT; surrendered 20% purse; 2nd morning weigh-in experiment)
Colby Covington def. [opponent] — Welterweight (Covington early career; future UFC WW title contender)
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Steve Bossé + Sean O’Connell — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Donald Cerrone + Krzysztof Jotko — $50,000 each
Records & Milestones
• Stephen Thompson’s 7th consecutive win and 7th consecutive PoN/title-shot-earning performance — most consecutive WW wins at the time.
• Donald Cerrone’s 12th UFC performance bonus — a UFC record at that time.
• Rory MacDonald’s Ottawa fight was his final UFC fight — he signed with Bellator MMA after the loss.
Legacy & Impact
Thompson’s Ottawa win produced his UFC WW title fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 205 in November 2016 at Madison Square Garden — the first UFC event in New York. The fight ended in a majority draw (widely considered controversial, with most observers scoring it for Thompson). A rematch was booked for UFC 209 in March 2017, which Tyron Woodley won by split decision after Lawler had vacated the title. Thompson’s Ottawa performance was the definitive proof of his elite-level WW credentials.
MacDonald’s Bellator career was commercially successful: he won the Bellator WW title from Douglas Lima in January 2018. Colby Covington’s Ottawa preliminary win was a step in a career that produced a UFC WW interim title win in 2018 and two UFC WW title fight losses to Kamaru Usman in 2019 and 2021. Misha Cirkunov and Ion Cutelaba’s Ottawa meeting was retrospectively one of the more interesting early LHW career matchups of the 2016 card cycle.
FAQ
Why was MacDonald’s contract situation commercially significant?
MacDonald was the #1-ranked UFC welterweight contender entering Ottawa and had turned down a contract extension offer. If he won, he would have been a free agent at peak market value — a UFC WW title contender entering an open market, potentially drawing competing offers from the UFC, Bellator, ONE Championship, and others. A free-agent top-ranked WW would have significant leverage in any promotion negotiation. The Ottawa loss to Thompson reduced that leverage but did not prevent a Bellator signing. Bellator saw the value in a former UFC top-ranked WW regardless of the Ottawa result.
How did Thompson’s footwork neutralise MacDonald specifically?
Thompson’s stance switching — from southpaw to orthodox and back — created targeting uncertainty for MacDonald’s power shots. MacDonald’s forward pressure was best applied against stationary opponents: his jab-right hand and wrestling setups required a target that was either stationary or moving in predictable patterns. Thompson’s lateral movement and front-leg-kick range management denied those patterns. The Ottawa performance was noted as Thompson’s most complete individual UFC performance to that point.
What was the morning weigh-in experiment?
Ottawa was the second UFC event to use a morning before-fight-day weigh-in, rather than the traditional evening-before weigh-in. The experiment was designed to give fighters more rehydration time before competition. The traditional evening weigh-in meant fighters had approximately 16-18 hours to rehydrate; the morning weigh-in gave them approximately 24-28 hours. Medical evidence suggested that additional rehydration time reduced the safety risks of severe weight cuts. Randa Markos’ miss — surrendering 20% of her purse — demonstrated that the new weigh-in format did not eliminate weight-miss incidents.
Where was Colby Covington’s career at this point?
Covington’s Ottawa prelim appearance was one of his earliest UFC fights. He had signed with the UFC in 2014 and was accumulating wins at welterweight. His career breakthrough came in 2018 when he won the UFC WW interim title by defeating Rafael dos Anjos — the same RDA who would lose the LW title to Alvarez the following month. His Ottawa win was a step in a career that eventually made him one of the most commercially recognisable welterweights in UFC history through his performances and public persona.
How did MacDonald’s Bellator career compare to his UFC career?
MacDonald’s Bellator career produced a WW title win at Bellator 192 in January 2018 against Douglas Lima, making him the first Canadian Bellator WW champion. He subsequently fought for multiple championships in Bellator, including a Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix final. His Bellator career — spanning 2016-2022 — was commercially successful and competitively fulfilled the promise that his UFC career, interrupted by the Lawler war’s physical consequences and the Ottawa loss, had suggested. He eventually retired in 2022.
What was the significance of Cerrone’s 12th bonus?
Cerrone’s accumulation of UFC performance bonuses — a record 12 at that point — reflected the consistency of his finishing ability and the commercial entertainment value of his fighting style. The UFC’s bonus structure rewards individual fight performances rather than career records; earning 12 bonuses required 12 individual instances of Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night quality across two weight classes. Cerrone’s record was eventually surpassed by later fighters, but his Ottawa bonus was a milestone in one of the UFC’s most financially rewarding bonus careers.
References
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