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Sports Oakville Beaver By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2008 25 Mixed martial arts fighter McDonell is all business A piece of advice for Rory McDonell's next opponent: don't make him angry. When Kevin Manderson showed up at the weigh-in for their August mixed martial arts fight in Calgary, he laughed at McDonell. Considering Manderson had twice delayed their bout, McDonell wasn't amused. McDonell made short work of the veteran of more than 30 pro fight. He knocked Manderson down with a jab before getting him to tap out 56 seconds into the match after applying a rear naked choke hold. The victory squared McDonell's pro record at 3-3 and boosted his confidence heading into next week's fight in Laval. But before getting back in the cage, McDonell got a rare opportunity to get some advice of his own. McDonell joined former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin at Popeye's Supplements in Oakville last Friday, where they greeted hundreds of fight fans who lined up for autographs and pictures. This time, McDonell was more than willing to listen to what a veteran fighter had to say. "He's the kind of guy I aspire to be," McDonell said. "You can learn from him just the way he carries himself, both as a fighter and outside the ring." Having endured the pitfalls had been targeted because a win against an experienced fighter would help raise the 26-yearold's profile. It worked, as they have been contacted by many promoters since the victory. His next bout will be Nov. 8 at the Laval Coliseum against Nelson Riquelme. The Fight Network will televise the event, though whether McDonell's fight makes it to air will depend on how much of the undercard is televised. McDonell comes from a wrestling background, having been a medalist at the Ontario University Athletics championships. He helped Milton's E.C. Drury win the provincial title in high school, but his latest win demonstrated that he's progressing and becoming a more well-rounded fighter. "I dropped him with my boxing and finished him off with my wrestling," McDonell said. That's a far cry from his debut that amounted to a very short boxing match, in which he was knocked out in the first round. Since then, he's won three times by submission and lost twice by decision, including a split decision against Lindsay Hawkes that was described as "the best fight of the night" on a Submission Fighter Canada message board. McDonell will be looking for his first back-to-back victory when he faces Riquelme. And you can be sure it will be all business for McDonell. BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER Oakville fighter Rory McDonell is working his way up the mixed martial arts ladder. The 26-year-old, 3-3 as a pro, gained credibility earlier this year with a victory over veteran fighter Kevin Manderson. that a fighter can experience while working his way through the ranks, Franklin said McDonell is on the right path. "Rory, at this stage, he's training at a good facility and he's surrounded himself with good people," said Franklin, who will fight at UFC 93 in January. "The smartest thing he can do is treat fighting like a business." That's exactly what McDonell is doing, having mapped out a two-year plan to reach the increasingly popular sport's highest level. McDonell's manager, Jeremy Ennis, said Manderson was an opponent that U of T's O'Hara receives second CIS field hockey MVP award Oakville's Cailie O'Hara has been named the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women's field hockey most valuable player for the second year in a row. O'Hara is the first two-time winner of Liz Hoffman Award since it was established in 1992. The award followed several other honours for the 21-year-old earlier in the week. O'Hara was named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) player of the year for the second time and was also the most valuable player of the OUA final, in which she led the University of Toronto to a 2-1 win over Guelph. O'Hara scored eight goals, tying her for the seventh-most in the country, as the Blues turned in an undefeated season of 12-0-2. "Cailie is a fierce competitor with an innate ability to raise the intensity of her teammates," said U of T head coach John De Souza. "Through her work ethic and dedication to the game, Cailie has become a fierce competitor that always wants to win." The St. Thomas Aquinas grad is now focusing on another repeat. O'Hara and the top-seeded Blues opened the CIS championship Thursday with a 1-0 win over the University of British Columbia. Joining O'Hara on the CIS first all-star team was Oakville's Effie Petrou. The third-year midfielder at York University was also named to the OUA first allstar team. Cailie O'Hara