Rising star's upset wins paying off

His other career is jail guard, patrolling the yard and cellblocks at Alberta's medium security Bowden Institution for the last seven years, maintaining order and breaking up scraps.

These days, Red Deer's Jason MacDonald is more comfortable as a pretzel maker than a peacemaker.

Quickly gaining a reputation for contorting his opponents into painful submission, the 31-year-old has exploded onto mixed-martial arts' biggest stage with a pair of impressive victories over heavily favoured fighters.

His wins over the Ultimate Fighter alumni Ed Herman and Chris Leben fooled the bookies and so impressed UFC president Dana White that he awarded MacDonald with a top spot on the UFC 68: The Uprising.

"I'm living a dream right now," MacDonald said.

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