Rory MacDonald is next in line for a shot at the Bellator welterweight championship. Unfortunately, it seems he’s going to have to wait a little bit longer before fighting for the belt.

MacDonald (19-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) made his promotional debut in May with a second-round submission of Paul Daley at Bellator 179. It marked his return from an 11-month layoff and set him up for a showdown with champion Douglas Lima (29-6 MMA, 11-2 BMMA).

The Canadian said after he signed with Bellator that keeping an active schedule was one of his priorities going forward. Sometimes figuring out the timing of a marquee fight means sitting on the sidelines, though, and that’s apparently the situation MacDonald is facing (via Twitter):

Bellator champ Lima, No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, is coming off a successful title defense against Lorenz Larkin at Bellator NYC in June. Afterward, No. 4-ranked MacDonald said he wasn’t impressed.

“I was really underwhelmed,” MacDonald said. “If these guys think they’re keeping the belt fighting like that, they’re just going to be another body in the grave.”

Although an opportunity to compete could potentially come up through injury to another fighter or other circumstance, MacDonald’s schedule for the remainder of the year appears to be clear. That doesn’t seem to be sitting all that well with “The Red King” (via <a href=" For more on Bellator's upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.