So close, yet so far.
Despite working his way back into the No. 1 contender spot, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title will once again be decided between Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks -- not Rory MacDonald -- according to UFC President Dana White, who cited "Red King's" split decision loss to "Ruthless" as the main culprit.
A date and venue -- possibly UFC 185 or UFC 186 -- has yet to be finalized.
From MMA Junkie:
"Robbie and Rory just fought," White said. "We just feel like the trilogy makes sense - to do the third fight with these two."
An event and date haven't been finalized for the rubber match. MacDonald, meanwhile, will hope to keep his title hopes alive when he fights another, currently undetermined, opponent, White said.
Hey, there's always Metamoris.
MacDonald went down on points against Lawler back in Nov. of 2013; however, the Canadian was able to rebound with three straight wins during his 2014 fight campaign. Unfortunately for him, the Lawler vs. Hendricks rematch at UFC 181 was about as close as you can get in terms of scoring, similar to their first fight last March.
Third time the charm?