Photo: Twitter - Scott Coker

Kelowna's Rory MacDonald took home the Bellator welterweight title Saturday night.

Two and a half years after Kelowna-based mixed martial artist Rory MacDonald lost his UFC title fight, he finally earned himself a belt Saturday night in another bloody affair.

MacDonald took to the cage Saturday night against Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, his second fight in the Viacom-owned fighting promotion.

The closely-fought bout went the full five rounds, but the judges gave the final decision to the challenger MacDonald.

While MacDonald came out victorious, he was definitely not unscathed. Lima spent the first several rounds kicking MacDonald's lead left leg, leaving it extremely swollen by the end of the fight. Both men's faces were left bloodied, and MacDonald's nose was likely broken.

Despite the damage, all three judges named MacDonald the winner, and he left the cage with Bellator gold.

“Congratulations to Kelowna's finest!” Bellator commentator Mike Goldberg announced following the win.

Following the win, MacDonald had nothing but positive things to say about his opponent.

“He's the best fighter I've ever fought, easy ... It was an honour to compete with him,” he said, as he limped on his swollen leg.

Saturday's fight was MacDonald's second time fighting for a belt in a major MMA promotion. His first unsuccessful attempt was against UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in July 2015.

MacDonald was stopped by Lawler in the fifth round of the hard-fought battle, a fight that was voted the best UFC fight in the company's history by ESPN readers last April.

MacDonald moved to Bellator in August 2016, after losing two fights in a row in the UFC. Along with the move in promotions, MacDonald also moved back to Kelowna's Toshido MMA for his training full time. While he began his MMA training in Kelowna at just 14 years old, he had not had a full fight camp at Toshido since moving to Montreal in 2010.

David Lea, MacDonald's coach at Toshido, said the move to Bellator was largely a financial decision, after the promotion “came to the table with more cash."

The moves to Bellator and training in Kelowna have proved to be good decisions. He has two wins and a new championship belt since making the changes.