Trail MMA fighter takes Bantam weight title
Published 10:00 am Monday, August 3, 2026
A Pride Gym fighter won his second Mixed Martial Arts title at the Total Fight League (TFL) event on July 24 at Liberty Lake, WA.
Taj McDonald captured the TFL Bantamweight belt by finishing off Tri Cities fighter Abel Morales with a ground and pound TKO in the second round.
The fight was his first in the heavier weight class, making the jump from the 125-pound flyweight to the 135-pound bantamweight.
“It was a 10 pound difference coming from flyweight to bantamweight,” said Pride Gym owner/trainer Glen Kalesniko. “He is naturally starting to get bigger weight wise, so it wasn’t too hard for him to do.
“It’ll be how he does consistently at that weight.”
With the victory, McDonald improves to 5-1 and now owns both bantamweight and flyweight TFL belts. He is also the top ranked fighter in mixed martial arts in the flyweight division in the Pacific Northwest.
“He was very composed for how young he is at 20 years old. He is a true martial artist doing jiu-jitsu since he was five years old.”
In his previous fight, the Pride Gym fighter defeated Alex Gamez with an arm triangle choke in the first round at WFC 186 on Feb. 27.
McDonald won the flyweight title at the TFL MMA battle in Liberty Lake on Sept. 26, 2025. He brought down the more experienced fighter Deontae Ruffin from Warrior Camp in Spokane, ending the match in just 70 seconds with a rear-naked-choke.
The Kootenay fighter has been training at Pride Gym for several years, but Kalesniko says he is ready to take his craft to the next level.
McDonald is planning to travel to Thailand to do some training and hopefully compete, following in the footsteps of many Trail MMA combatants including Kalesniko, Charles Bisset and Frances Watthanaya.
“He has a bright future in Mixed Martial Arts and we are excited to see where it goes for him,” Kalesniko added.