SAN JOSE - Michael McDonald is soft-spoken, well-mannered kid, but when he's in the Octagon, look out. The 20-year-old nearly did permanent damage to Alex Soto with a hellacious knockout finish in the first fight of the Spike broadcast of UFC 139 at the HP Pavilion.
McDonald (14-1, 3-0 UFC) is giving MMA fans a glimpse of what could be on the way from the next generation of fighters who've trained in all disciplines from a young age. He has a good submission game to go with very composed striking. His composure with his hands paid off as Soto charged recklessly in the opening seconds.
Soto (6-1-1, 0-1 UFC) attempted a low kick with his left leg and left his chin exposed. Mcdonald countered with a beautiful overhand right than landed ont he button. Soto went down in a heap, he was out momentarily until McDonald came down hard with another right that actually woke up his opponent.
"It was jus so fast, he caught me pretty good and what can I say? I did my best," Soto said admitting he was stunned.
Soto scrambled to his feet, but his legs were gone. He settled on the cage where McDonald bounced an uppercut off his forehead. Soto dropped down and actually trapped his left leg. He couldn't move. McDonald, showing some real killer instinct landed three more shots to completely prone Soto. The ref jumped in just as McDonald was backing away.
"He actually had me kinda scared. That guy has an incredible pace and an unending gas tank. He's very aggressive and he goes really hard. He had me nervous in a lot of areas� because he had nothing to lose," McDonald said. "I almost had no game plan going into this� because he has very few weaknesses. This was a very tense fight for me but I never underestimated him."
Soto, a near 4-to-1 underdog, took this fight on late notice when Johnny Eduardo pulled out because of a shoulder injury just 10 days ago.
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