It’s been a long time coming to return to the cage for Jake Macdonald.
Kelowna, B.C.’s Macdonald (3-1) will return to action after seven years away to take on Fonthill, Ont.’s Xavier Nash (4-4) in a co-main event lightweight bout at BTC 10 in Vancouver, B.C. on Saturday night.
Seven-year layoffs are almost unheard of in professional MMA — careers are short, windows are narrow, and a fighter who disappears for that long is usually gone for good. Macdonald's return is the exception that keeps regional fight scenes interesting: a lightweight who walked away on a loss, stayed in the gym the whole time, and now gets to answer the question every veteran asks — what would have happened if I'd kept going?
BTC 10 lands in Vancouver, a city that had become a regular host for the promotion's Ontario-based operation, and the co-main event slot for a 32-year-old returning from a seven-year absence is the kind of booking that shows a promoter trusting the fighter's name recognition with the local audience.
Macdonald’s last time in the cage was way back in June 2014 where he suffered the only defeat of his career, a second round TKO loss to current UFC fighter Hakeem Dawodu.
That June 2014 fight is the kind that ages well — Dawodu went on to become a UFC featherweight and one of Canada's most recognizable MMA names, which means Macdonald's lone professional loss reads very differently in retrospect than it did on the night. Taking a short-notice fight against a future UFC talent is not the kind of defeat that buries a record.
Macdonald, 32, said although he hates to lose, that loss to Dawodu changed everything for him as far as mindset and outlook is concerned.
“I took that fight on short notice, one week’s notice. They had a game plan and I wasn’t in the shape I should’ve been in for that type of fight,” said Macdonald in an interview with MMA Empire.
“I felt like I learned everything. It basically turned my mindset from amateur to professional that fight.”
It's the rare fighter who can articulate exactly which loss changed them, but the short-notice defeat is the clearest kind — it strips away the ability to blame preparation time, weight, or logistics and forces an honest accounting of what wasn't there. Macdonald's framing suggests he came out of that cage a different fighter, even if the results took years to show up.
Despite the long layoff since the loss, Macdonald said he was never retired or was never second guessing his position in the sport.
He said the time off was strictly to prepare for and raise the child he had on the way, but he still continued to train throughout his entire layoff.
The honest version of most layoffs isn't about injuries or promotional disputes — it's life arriving at the wrong time, and MMA is unforgiving about that. A fighter who kept training through a seven-year pause while raising a child is a different kind of committed than one who never stopped competing.
“I’ve been training the whole time, I never left the scene really. I just wasn’t competing for awhile there,” said Macdonald.
“I tried competing quite a few times the past couple years, and a bunch this year too, but it just wasn’t working out.”
With restrictions surrounding COVID-19 in Canada expected to begin to be lifted in the coming weeks and months, Saturday’s BTC 10 card could be one of the last no-crowd MMA events in the country.
The COVID-era no-crowd cards were a strange chapter — fights that technically counted, against real opponents, in front of empty seats, where the only witnesses were the camera crew and the commission. For a returning fighter who feeds off atmosphere, it's an extra wrinkle to an already unusual comeback.
Macdonald said having the crowd there for his fights is something he’s always thrived off and is an aspect he’s going to miss on fight night.
“I love the crowd; I love to feel like a gladiator. It’s like you’re going out and pleasing The Coliseum,” said Macdonald.
“Whether they’re booing or cheering, it’s going to take a big chunk away from the fight and competing all together.”
Throughout his career, Macdonald has been known to bring a fast, hard pace in every fight, further proven by his track record of never having been out of the second round.
The pace Macdonald describes is the classic finish-hunter profile — every fight ending before the third round means either decisive wins or decisive losses, and a returning veteran leaning into that identity against a 4-4 opponent suggests the plan is to make the co-main event memorable rather than measured.
Macdonald said with his excitement level to step back in the cage paired with all the work he’s put in over the past seven years, he expects to have a dominant showing over Nash on Saturday night.
“I’m crushing him. I don’t know how or when, but it just depends on what he takes and wants to put out.”
“I see me going in there and crushing the dude, so we’ll see how long he can last.”
Macdonald’s Shoutouts
“I’d just like to thank my coach, David Lea, everyone else at the gym, and my friends and family.” Follow Macdonald on social media: INSTAGRAM
