Jason Anthony MacDonald (born June 3, 1975) is aCanadian formermixed martial artist. A professional from 1999 until 2013, he is perhaps best remembered for his two stints in theUFC, but also fought forKing of the Cage, and theMaximum Fighting Championship. Known for his grappling skills, 19 of his 25 career wins came by way of submission.

Jason MacDonald
Born	Jason Anthony MacDonald (1975-06-03)June 3, 1975 (age 49) New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Other names	The Athlete
Residence	Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Light Heavyweight Middleweight
Reach	80 in (203 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Fighting out of	Edmonton,Alberta, Canada
Team	Pure Fitness Gracie Barra Calgary
Rank	Black belt inBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active	1999–2013
Mixed martial arts record
Total	41
Wins	25
By knockout	3
By submission	19
By decision	3
Losses	16
By knockout	6
By submission	5
By decision	5
Other information
Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog

MacDonald began his career in local Canadian promotions, including theMFC, racking up a 16-7 professional record which included wins over UFC veteransJoe Doerksen,Gideon Ray, and Bill Mahood.

MacDonald made hisUFC debut on October 10, 2006, atOrtiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter against the favoredThe Ultimate Fighter 3 finalistEd Herman. In an upset, MacDonald won the bout via triangle choke in the first round. MacDonald followed up the performance with a win overThe Ultimate Fighter 1 veteranChris Leben via modified guillotine choke in the second round. Both victories earnedSubmission of the Night honors.

MacDonald lost in competition atUFC 68 with a match-up againstRich Franklin in his first appearance since losing theUFC Middleweight Championship toAnderson Silva. Franklin mounted MacDonald in the final seconds of round two, causing enough injury to MacDonald's left eye area that his corner advised him to throw in the towel, and Franklin was declared the winner.

AtUFC 72, MacDonald rebounded from his loss to Franklin with a second-round TKO victory overRory Singer. This marked his third victory overThe Ultimate Fighter veterans.

AtUFC 77, MacDonald facedYushin Okami, who was coming off a loss to Franklin in a title contention elimination bout. MacDonald lost the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

MacDonald fell back from the defeat atUFC 83, defeatingJoe Doerksen via TKO (elbows) in the second round and earning a $75,000 bonus forKnockout of the Night in the process.^[1] A small controversy erupted after MacDonald landed two hammerfists after it appeared the fight had been stopped. In an interview the day after the fight, MacDonald explained that the referee had instructed him to continue fighting and had even apologized to him for his error in judgment.^[2]

AtUFC 87, MacDonald facedBrazilianDemian Maia. The fight took place almost completely on the ground, with MacDonald escaping numerous submission attempts. Ultimately in the third round, Maia locked in arear-naked choke for the victory.

Only a month later, MacDonald went on to fight as a replacement forJason Day atUFC 88. He won againstJason Lambert at 1:20 of round two by rear-naked choke, earning his thirdSubmission of the Night bonus.

MacDonald followed up with a bout atThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir Finale againstWilson Gouveia. MacDonald lost the fight via submission due to elbows after being dropped with a glancing left jab by Gouveia and pounded on for the stoppage.

AtUFC 97, MacDonald suffered a first-round TKO loss toNate Quarry due to elbows from a mounted position.

Despite earlier suggestions fromDana White that MacDonald's position in the UFC roster was safe despite his recent lack of success, the UFC released MacDonald several weeks later. Matchmaker Joe Silva commented that the door would be left open for MacDonald to return should he earn a few more victories in smaller promotions.^[3]

At theMFC 21 event on May 15, 2009, MacDonald announced that he was returning to theCanadian promotionMaximum Fighting Championship. He foughtTravis Lutter in the main event ofMFC 22 on October 2, 2009, losing a unanimous decision.

Jason MacDonald faced TUF 3 competitor and fellow UFC veteranSolomon Hutcherson atMFC 23 defeating him by split decision giving MacDonald his fifth victory over a TUF competitor.

On March 20, 2010, MacDonald replacedDenis Kang in the main event of W1 Bad Blood. He defeatedVernon White in the 3rd round via triangle choke.

On April 23, 2010, MacDonald defeatedMatt Horwich via unanimous decision in the main event of the very first Let's Get It On MMA tournament event.

MacDonald returned to the UFC and faced up and coming wrestlerJohn Salter on May 8, 2010, atUFC 113, replacing an injuredNick Catone.^[4] After 2:42 of the first round, MacDonald's leg broke during a takedown attempt by Salter and the fight was stopped, declaring Salter the winner by TKO due to injury.

MacDonald was scheduled to faceRafael Natal on December 11, 2010, atUFC 124,^[5] but pulled out of the fight after suffering an injury in training.^[6]

Nearly a year after his last bout, MacDonald fought and submittedRyan Jensen via first-round triangle choke atUFC 129 on April 30, 2011.^[7]

MacDonald facedAlan Belcher on September 17, 2011 atUFC Fight Night 25, losing via verbal submission due to strikes in the first round.^[8]

MacDonald facedTom Lawlor on May 15, 2012 atUFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier.^[9] He lost the fight via KO in the first round. On February 28, 2013, MacDonald announced his retirement from MMA, leaving his UFC record standing at 6-8.^[10]

MacDonald owns and runs his own gym, Pure Fitness & MMA, located in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.^[11] He also runs his own fight promotion called Pure Fighting Championship.He manages a number of Canadian professional MMA fighters, including Ryan Machan, Evan Sanguin, George Belanger and Derek Clark.^[12]

MacDonald and his wife Kelly have four children, sons Tristin and Keel and daughters Jett and True.^[13][14]

Jason is also a CrossFit Trainer, and works for CrossFit HQ co-teaching the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certification course.

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Knockout of the Night (One time)vs.Joe Doerksen
  • Submission of the Night (Three times)vs.Chris Leben,Ed Herman,Jason Lambert
  • UFC.com Awards
    • 2006:Ranked #4 Submission of the Yearvs.Chris Leben^[15]
    • 2008:Ranked #5 Fight of the Yearvs.Demian Maia^[16]
• Absolute Fighting Championships
  • AFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)^[17]

• Professional MMA record for Jason MacDonald fromSherdog 
• Jason MacDonald Blog
• Official UFC Profile