In 2017, it is no longer rare for a highly ranked UFC fighter to finish out his contract and potentially sign with another promotion. This week alone has produced several case studies of this.
It is very rare, however, for the UFC to willingly cut ties with a perennially ranked athlete who still had multiple fights on his deal.
Such is the case with 26-year-old bantamweight Michael McDonald (17-4), who managed to terminate his contract with the UFC last week. The development ends a seven-year run in the UFC for McDonald, which includes an interim title fight in 2013.
McDonald was 19 when he signed with then-WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby in 2010. Both became part of the UFC in 2011, when the WEC was absorbed. McDonald says he's considered Shelby "a friend" and never wished to fight anywhere but the UFC.
So what happened? It's a long story. But for McDonald, it really boils down to a simple issue of trust.
"I didn't feel I could trust that 'yes' meant 'yes,' and 'no' meant 'no,'" McDonald said when discussing recent conversations with the UFC. "I didn't feel I could trust their motives."
McDonald hasn't fought since July 2016 -- a first-round knockout loss to John Lineker in a fight that headlined UFC Fight Night in South Dakota. In addition to nagging injuries, McDonald, as he revealed in an interview with ESPN.com in January, felt he couldn't afford to accept a fight.
During that January interview, McDonald said he'd gone into debt several times during his career to pay for training costs -- and he was no longer willing to do that. His plan, then, was to save money from his other profession, woodworking, in order to pay for a training camp. His goal was $10,000.
In describing his situation, McDonald realized it might come across as bad press for the UFC. A professional athlete -- former title contender -- stashing money away in order to compete. He says he called Shelby before the article ran, to give him the courtesy of a heads-up.
"I talked to Sean Shelby for about an hour, and our agreement was he was totally fine with [me telling] the truth," McDonald said. "I told him, 'I'm profitable in woodworking right now. I'm going to do that and if I save enough cash, I'll [take a fight]. He said, 'Let me see what I can do.' I didn't expect that."
According to McDonald, Shelby requested he give him "until the weekend" to make some calls, play with numbers and maybe come up with a solution that would benefit all parties. McDonald agreed and says that began a lengthy waiting period.
"That weekend turned into about three to four weeks," McDonald said. "It made me feel like, 'I'm having a hard time even trusting the time frame. This doesn't seem like a big problem, for Sean Shelby to pick up the phone and talk to his boss.' From the very beginning, I started to get that vibe. I wanted to be able to take his words literally: Three days is three days."
Eventually Shelby returned with good news. The UFC was willing to increase McDonald's contract by an additional $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win.
The raise was based on one condition, though. McDonald says Shelby wanted him to commit to a fight date that was two months away. This didn't sit well with McDonald, as he had informed Shelby he was out of shape and hadn't trained since his fight last summer. By adding that condition, McDonald felt the offer was essentially void upon arrival, he said.
"Why would he give me an offer with a contingency of fighting in two months when he knows I can't accept that?" McDonald said. "That's a dishonest offer. It's not a real offer. You're just spitting in my face.
At that point, McDonald says he was resolved to go back to his original plan of saving money from woodworking and remain on his current deal. After several days with no interaction, however, McDonald says Shelby reached back out with the intention to discuss an eventual fight date.
When McDonald explained, through his management, that his situation hadn't changed and he wouldn't be accepting a fight, Shelby mentioned the possibility of a release. McDonald immediately accepted that, as he'd actually already told his management he wished to be released. McDonald said he would later find out his management internally decided to not forward that request.
In short, McDonald asked for a release, but that request never made it to Shelby. Ironically, Shelby broached the subject himself shortly after -- which, McDonald says, Shelby later admitted was a "bluff" to forward the negotiations.
It all led to some confusion over who exactly asked for what first, but the result was still the same: McDonald didn't feel he could trust anything being said.
"When he's making an offer he knows I can't accept, or says, 'I'm bluffing by giving you a release,' that shows I can't trust what you're saying," McDonald said. "You're telling me one thing and meaning something else. You're trying to manipulate me. You want this to be done but can't talk to me about it. What it feels like is bullying. You're trying to bully me into it."
Despite everything that's happened, McDonald says he holds no "ill will" toward the UFC and could even see himself fighting for the organization again later in his career. At this particular time, given the way things snowballed, parting ways might have been the only solution.
McDonald says he will be fielding all offers and that he knows wherever he lands, it will be a business arrangement. And perhaps, some forms of dishonesty are inevitable when it comes to all business. Just not, he hopes, to the level he felt it's been recently.
"If my wife and future children are trusting in me to pay the bills, I need to make sure the person I'm entering a partnership with is trustworthy as well," McDonald said. "I didn't feel this three-month endeavor we went on with the UFC -- I didn't feel they were being honest."