 McDonald faced Urijah Faber on December 14, 2013 at UFC on Fox 9.After a back and forth first round, Faber stunned McDonald in the second with a flurry of punches, McDonald went to the canvas and Faber jumped on him and finished the fight by submission due to a guillotine choke.After being sidelined for all of 2014 and 2015 nursing a litany of injuries, including hand and wrist surgeries, McDonald returned to face Masanori Kanehara on January 2, 2016 at UFC 195.