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McDonald Honored to Win KO Bonus

Michael McDonald delivered a fantastic knockout Nov. 19 at UFC 139, finishing Alex Soto just 56 seconds into the first round.

The win was his third in the UFC in as many appearances, and it also earned him a $70,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus. Coming off his best Octagon performance thus far, he joined the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show” to discuss a variety of topics.

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McDonald on trying to find out if he’d won the “Knockout of the Night” bonus: “We were wandering around forever, trying to see if we could find some news if we got it or not. We ran backstage to the press conference to see if we could ask somebody because that’s where all the bosses are. So we ran back there to the press conference and some random Joe goes, ‘Hey, you won Knockout of the Night. They just announced it.’ We were like, ‘Whoa!’ I jumped on my manager and I ran down the hallway and all that good stuff.”

On fighting alongside Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua: “This was one of the best cards in MMA history, and I just got Knockout of the Night. What in the world? What an honor. I can’t believe that I’m a part of this organization.”

On Henderson-Shogun: “I was afraid they were going to steal my bonus. I was sweating bullets.”

On getting a finish after two decisions in his first two UFC fights: “My last two performances were just some really bad circumstances. With the Edwin Figueroa fight, I made a major mistake. It was the heaviest I’ve been. My entire career, I was always the same weight. I would cut five pounds and put five pounds back on, no problem. For the Edwin Figueroa fight, I cut 10 pounds and put five back on. I went into the fight dehydrated. You couldn’t really tell in the fight, but I was barely alive. I couldn’t believe I was still standing. I looked a hell of a lot better than I felt. Then with the [Chris] Cariaso fight, my confidence was honestly really down. For that fight I couldn’t even warm up. My right hand and my left shoulder were severely injured. I wasn’t able to lift my left shoulder or punch with my right hand. I went in there completely cold and just feeling really kind of down on myself and just trying to pick myself up and go. It just wasn’t seeming to work. I’m actually just happy that I came out with a win in that one.”

On whether his success could go to his head: “I would say yes if I wasn’t where I am with the Lord. With my relationship with God, I know that I’m constantly being checked back into reality. When I look at it through reality, I can see so many times where I shouldn’t have made it. I shouldn’t have made that shot. I shouldn’t have got out of that move. I shouldn’t have made it and I did. There’s been so many times where I shouldn’t be here and I didn’t want to be here, but I’m either lucky or there’s a God who loves me. I know that it’s not by my power. I’m not some amazing, great fighter who just has all the answers. I’ve got an awesome God. I’ve got an awesome team. I’ve got an awesome family.”

On what’s next: “I don’t expect or want any special treatment or anything like that. I’m just another employee. Whoever they put in front of me, I just want whoever they think will be an exciting fight, whoever they think I’m ready to fight. They do their job and I’ll do mine.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:12:30).
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