UFC title hopeful puts mind over matter

For someone who is so hesitant to call himself an athlete, Michael McDonald is dangerously close to reaching the pinnacle of his sport.

The 22-year-old Californian will fight Renan Barao for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s interim bantamweight title in the main event of today’s UFC on Fuel TV 7 card in London.

McDonald, one of mixed martial arts’ most complex and thoughtful competitors despite his age, concedes the athletic edge to his opponent.

“Renan is probably a little bit better of an athlete than me,” McDonald said. “He’s very dangerous and unpredictable. He does a lot of high-flying moves, and he’s probably a little bit faster than me as well. But those are his strengths, and those are his weapons. My weapons are my weapons, and they are different than his.”

McDonald, a devout Christian, credits his success to his faith and his mind. He says the difference between himself and those he considers athletes shows up every day in training.

“If you gave an athlete a choice of how do you want to train today, the first thing they might say is, ‘Oh, I think I’ll go running’ or something like that. Or, ‘I think I want to go lift weights or do conditioning’ or whatever,” he said. “Their training revolves around that, and their mindset revolves around their body, and it’s not about learning the martial arts.”

McDonald eschews that attitude.

“They are fooled by the outward appearance of muscles, speed, all these things which are important, but not as important as body efficiencies and learning,” he said.

A focused mind can do far more damage, according to McDonald, who talks like an aging philosopher after pausing to think about each question he is asked.

“It’s about understanding the concept of how an 80-year-old monk can do a front kick with his toe and pierce a metal can,” McDonald said. “It’s concepts like that and understanding your body (that) can make small people do incredible things, output massive amounts of damage into a target. That knowledge of how to take a body and apply maximum efficiency, that’s all about your mind.”

That focus also seems to help him deal with the enormity of tonight’s bout. A victory would make McDonald the youngest champion in UFC history. Technically, it’s the interim belt on the line, but champion Dominick Cruz hasn’t fought since October 2011 and is trying to work his way back from a second anterior cruciate ligament replacement surgery.

Main event. Title bout at age 22. An opponent with a 30-fight unbeaten streak. None of it fazes McDonald.

“Honestly, I don’t really think about the size of the event or my age or anything. Thinking about those huge, influential things can really play on your emotions if you let them,” he said. “I really don’t think about my age or what I’m doing right now or the event or the arena or even the opponent. My opponent could change today, and I’d be OK with that. I could go from fighting in Wembley Arena to fighting in a little garage, and that’s OK. That’s not what I’m here for. I’m just here to fight.”

McDonald, who has won four straight fights since signing with the UFC, including the past two by first-round knockout, says his ability to keep everything in such perspective is part of his success.

“My gift is my mind and to be able to handle these things and understand my body,” he said. “To take body movement apart like you can mechanics and anatomy and to understand energy transfers and emotions and to understand my mind well enough to understand my body so I can actually carry those things out. This is my gift from God. Everybody has their weapon, and mine is my mind. Everything I do stems from my mind and the knowledge of martial arts and the knowledge of my body, and my athletics are secondary to that.”

The fight headlines a six-fight main card that airs live at noon on Fuel TV (Cable 319). A featherweight contender bout between Cub Swanson and Dustin Poirier also is featured.

Las Vegan Ulysses Gomez takes on flyweight Phil Harris on the preliminary card, which will stream live on Facebook at 9 a.m.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.