The news, by now, has circled around the MMA community, but in case you haven’t heard, Jason MacDonald, for the time being, is no longer a UFC fighter. It probably comes as somewhat of a shock, too.

While, granted, his performance against Nate Quarry at UFC 97 marked his second consecutive lacklustre performance, many took UFC President Dana White’s post-fight remarks as a sign that “The Athlete” would live to fight another day in the organization.

The bottom line, however, is that the UFC remains a business with performance objectives no different than any other business; and, it was a business decision that resulted in MacDonald, in addition to fellow Canadian David Loiseau, being released this past week.

“I had nothing but a great experience fighting in the UFC and working with them,” said MacDonald. “And, I think there’s a lot more to being a UFC fighter than just what people see on the internet; you know, as far as what people are getting paid and how they’re being released.

“As an athlete you’re paid to perform and that’s the bottom line. The UFC is a business and they’re in the fight business. I think their philosophy is that they’ve got a lot of guys looking to be there and they need to let guys go, if they’re not producing exciting fights and winning, because they can get some fresh, new fighters into the organization - one of whom might be the next superstar.”

Yet, despite leaving on good terms with UFC management, MacDonald can’t help but be upset with the way he left the Octagon in April: losing to TUF veteran Nate Quarry via a bloody TKO near the end of the first round.

“The loss to Quarry is so disappointing for me because one of the things I pride myself on is not being an easy fight for anybody,” MacDonald explained. “I always want to put on an exciting fight and give my opponent everything they can handle and more.

“I’m not sure that I ever really got into the Quarry fight – I don’t think that I even threw a punch. I was taken down and right away I was scrambling to get back into control and that’s tough.”

The loss to Quarry marked the end of a roller coaster ten-fight stint in the world’s top promotion that was highlighted by impressive victories over the likes of Ed Herman, Chris Leben, and Jason Lambert, but also humbling defeats at the hands of Rich Franklin, Demian Maia, and Quarry.

Hardly one to make excuses, MacDonald, however, did admit that the pressure of fighting for the UFC can throw a fighter off his game.

“I definitely feel like once you get into the UFC and you’re more in the public’s eye, there’s some pressure out there from fight fans and promoters to put on these really exciting stand-up wars,” MacDonald said. “I was certainly listening to too many of the forums and the stuff on the internet with people saying, ‘MacDonald needs to do this and that and to work on his stand-up.’

“I feel like my stand-up is good but it’s not my bread and butter. I still want to work on my entire game, but I’m definitely going to make an effort now not to fool myself and just be the fighter that got me [to the UFC]. I want to get back to working from the clinch, out-working guys, and then taking them down and either submitting them or ground and pounding them.”

And now that MacDonald is free and clear from any promotional obligations, he’s got the requisite time on hand to heal and re-evaluate what he wants to do next.

“My mindset is that [this release] is a much needed break – especially with the cuts on my forehead I received from the last fight.” MacDonald said. “I actually received a pretty lengthy suspension – I think 100 days. So, I’d like to take a step back, get regenerated, refreshed, and recharge my batteries. Once the sour taste of that last loss is gone and I’ve had a chance to rest and re-think things, I’ll start moving forward.

“I think there are a lot of great opportunities out there at middleweight, outside of the UFC. You know, I wasn’t calling out Scott Smith. I was just saying that there are some great guys like Scott Smith, Robbie Lawler, Matt Lindland, Benji Radach, and ton of guys out there at middleweight that, when I’m ready to get back in there, will present great fights.”

MacDonald remains adamant that he’s still got something left to give to a sport that has treated his body surprisingly well since 1999. Although it’s clear that some changes will need to be made in order to facilitate the old J-Mac returning to the Octagon in the future.

“I absolutely do think I have something left to give,” MacDonald said. “I’ll be coming up on a birthday next week – turning 34 – but even leading up to the Quarry fight I felt like I was learning new skills and I felt like I was getting better.

“It’s just when you become popular you get pulled in a lot of different directions. Right now, I have four kids, a gym of my own, and I’m running a fight promotion here in Red Deer called the Pure Fighting Championships. When I was the most successful in the UFC, I was just fighting; I didn’t have anything else going on in my life other than my family.”

There won’t be any shortage of potential suitors for MacDonald when he decides to climb back into the ring, either – the phone has already been ringing off the hook.

The right set of circumstances could even see MacDonald return to his old stomping grounds here, at the Maximum Fighting Championship, where he remains one of the organizations most beloved and highest grossing fighters of all-time.

“There was a point in my career where I’d lost four fights and Mark [Pavelich] called me up and said, ‘you know, I think you have the talent to be in the UFC’ and he helped me to get back on track and get into the UFC,” MacDonald recounted.

Despite the good relationship between MacDonald and Pavelich, any return is bound to be only for a very short period of time. MacDonald says he has no interest in signing a long-term deal with any organization other than the UFC simply because he wants to have the flexibility to take any number of opportunities that might present themselves.

While it’s unclear as to when MacDonald might return to fighting, it’s safe to say that fans will still be able to catch him all over the place in 2009. In addition to running his gym and fight promotion in Red Deer, MacDonald also has a five minute segment on Rogers Sportsnet’s new, weekly MMA show called “MMA Connected” that is hosted by Joe Ferraro (www.sportsnet.ca/mma).

Additionally, MacDonald recently inked an agreement with toy-maker Round 5 MMA to help design a toy figurine in his likeness – something that will be available on store shelves across Canada like Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and Champs, later this year.