UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald will return to action later this year, seven weeks after his recent UFC Fight Night 54 knockout of Tarec Saffiedine. However, it won’t be for an MMA fight.

MacDonald’s (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) next challenge comes in the form of a no-gi grappling match with J.T. Torres at Metamoris 5. The promotionrecently announced the Canadian’s involvement with the Nov. 22 event.

Metamoris has brought in MMA fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Josh Barnett and Brendan Schaub in the past, but they weren’t as close to a title shot as MacDonald. However, the 25-year-old said he wanted to test himself in a different avenue of competition, and that’s why MacDonald requested a spot on the Metamoris card.

“I asked my manager if I could get on the Metamoris show,” MacDonald told MMAjunkie. “I just thought it would be fun.”

MacDonald secured his spot as the No. 1 welterweight contender with his third-round TKO of Saffiedine (15-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on Oct. 4. UFC President Dana White on Wednesday announced MacDonald’s next fight will be for the title, and it will take place in Canada.

While the MMA and grappling communities are intrigued to see how “Ares” will fare against a talent like Torres, MacDonald’s head coach, Firas Zahabi, said it’s all about the experience and enjoyment of less intense competition.

“When the guy’s not allowed to knock your head off, it’s kind of fun,” Zahabi said. “It becomes fun and like a hobby. Grappling is like a hobby. It’s more something for fun and a good experience. We can go in there and win, but (Torres) can’t come into our game and win. It takes so much more preparation and so many different tools.”

With slightly altered training tactics, Zahabi will help MacDonald prepare for the Metamoris match just as he would help a student prepare for an MMA fight. While it’s meant to be fun, Zahabi still wants the upper hand in any athletic competition and will do his best to help MacDonald emerge victorious.

“The game that they play is just one part of what we do, so it’s simple and fun,” Zahabi said. “We’ll have some fun and try to shock the grappling world.”

Metamoris 5 takes place at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and streams live via Metamoris.com. The main event sees MMA legends Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba face off in a grappling match after the Japanese fighter submitted Gracie at PRIDE 10 in August 2000.

Torres is a world champion grappler who has earned titles all across the globe. He’ll pose a serious threat to MacDonald during the 20-minute, submission-only match. It’s a tall order, but MacDonald said he’s confident he’ll excel when placed face-to-face with Torres.

“My opponent is very good and he is very skilled,” MacDonald said. “I think I’ll do well. We’ll do a lot of grappling to prepare.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 54, check out the UFC Events section of the site.