Some might look at Rory MacDonald’s most recent cage fights, all part of the 2019 Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix, and think there’s some passing familiarity with the structure of his new mixed martial arts home, Professional Fighters League.

Not quite, says MacDonald (21-6, 14 finishes), who will make his debut with the organization on Thursday night as the ESPN2-aired headliner for the second event of this PFL season at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., facing fellow UFC and Bellator veteran Curtis Millender. The former Bellator 170-pound champion said his experience with his former promotion and its tournament “wasn’t the greatest.”

“For PFL, I get to know my schedule ahead of time,” MacDonald told The Post over Zoom on Tuesday. “With Bellator, I didn’t. They kind of sprung it on me, and they pressured me into taking fights early and things like that. It was a lot different.” 

With PFL, MacDonald says it’s “so far, so good.” And although Ray Cooper III also will compete Thursday as he looks to repeat as PFL welterweight champion — he won the most recent season in 2019 — it’s hard to consider anyone but MacDonald as the favorite.

“It seems to be, when I hear from the fighters, they all want a piece of me,” said MacDonald matter-of-factly of the other nine welterweights in the field. “So in my opinion, that’s a good thing, it’s a compliment that I’ve done well and they want to compete against me.”

Although just 31, MacDonald has been a pro for 16 years. He was 5-0 in MMA before turning 18. By 20, he scored his first UFC victory and went on to a 9-4 run with the promotion that included nearly becoming the champion, before succumbing via fifth-round TKO to champ Robbie Lawler in July 2015 in what’s considered one of the sport’s most legendary wars of attrition.

By 2017, MacDonald jumped to Bellator as a free agent, claiming their welterweight crown from Douglas Lima the following year. Following a failed bid to claim a second title at middleweight, he made his first title defense as part of the grand prix. That fight against Jon Fitch ended in a draw, followed by a decision win over Neiman Gracie at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals. But the final in October 2019 saw the Canadian drop a decision and his crown to Lima in their tournament final rematch, closing out his obligations to Bellator.

PFL inked MacDonald to a contract — “definitely the best contract of my career” — which could lead to him earning the $1 million prize as the season champion — with the intent of him competing in the planned 2020 season. The coronavirus pandemic postponed the season a year, meaning MacDonald will have been sidelined for 18 months when he faces Millender (18-6, six finishes), an alternate who replaced original opponent David Michaud when a career-ending heart ailment was discovered.

MacDonald maintains the opponent switch, which happened earlier this month, doesn’t faze him.

“I think he’s a good kickboxer, but I think I’m just as good as him at that, if not better,” MacDonald said. “And I think I’m more skilled in the other departments of mixed martial arts too.”

MacDonald said long layoffs are “unfortunately” nothing new to him, although this one is notably longer than anything from 2015 through 2017, when he competed only once each year. Still, he used the time away from competition to “work on some weaknesses in my training, in my lifestyle, in my mental approach to fighting.”

The mental aspect was especially key for MacDonald, who in the cage after his draw with Fitch candidly said, “I don’t have that killer inside. I don’t know. It’s really hard to explain, but I hesitate a little bit now.” 

“That’s one of the things I addressed in my time off last year is just understanding why I’m doing this sport,” MacDonald told The Post, “refocusing, understanding why I’m doing this, and I was able to do that. And I feel like I’m back better than ever, mentally and physically.

“Just realizing that the Lord had blessed me in this skill set, in this sport, and that this was my destiny to go and claim that No. 1 spot as the top welterweight in the world,” continued MacDonald, who often speaks of his Christian faith. “I was a little confused at that point in my career with Jon, when I was fighting Neiman and Douglas for a second time; I was really passionate about this sport, but I think I was just confused with all the changes in my life and getting comfortable with the lifestyle I was living and losing kind of a passion for this sport.”

If indeed MacDonald’s killer instinct in the cage has returned, perhaps the PFL field is right to keep him directly in their crosshairs.