Rory MacDonald: Georges St-Pierre doesn't have to fight for title if he returns

By foxsports
Published

Rory MacDonald doesn't mind the comparisons to Georges St-Pierre -- he takes those as a compliment. But the constant questions about whether or not the two training partners will fight each other get under his skin.

"It's unnecessary," MacDonald told FOX Sports on Thursday. "We've answered it so many times and it's not going to change."

Much to MacDonald's chagrin, those inquiries might actually be about to ramp up even more.

UFC president Dana White told the Canadian Press on Wednesday that MacDonald will get the next shot at the UFC welterweight title following Johny Hendricks' defense against Robbie Lawler at UFC 181 on Dec. 6. Meanwhile, Firas Zahabi of Tristar Gym, where both MacDonald and St-Pierre train, has said multiple times recently that he believes St-Pierre will return to the Octagon.

One can already see where this is leading. St-Pierre, the former welterweight champion, vacated the belt and stepped away from the UFC last December to deal with personal matters. But if he comes back, White has already said that he would be granted a title shot on Day One.

MacDonald said he believes GSP will "probably" fight again. But that fact and St-Pierre getting a title shot if MacDonald holds the belt are separate things in MacDonald's eyes.

"I would assume so," MacDonald said when asked if he thinks St-Pierre will come back. "It doesn’t mean he has to fight for the championship. He would respect my position if I was holding the belt."

MacDonald (18-2) said he has not spoken with St-Pierre about this topic. He said GSP texted him over the weekend to congratulate him on his victory Saturday at UFC Fight Night on FOX Sports 1 over Tarec Saffiedine in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Though it has gone unspoken between the two of them, MacDonald strongly feels like St-Pierre wouldn't make a push for a title shot if MacDonald was champion, because MacDonald took the same tact when St-Pierre was champ.

"It's just kind of common sense," MacDonald said.

The other thing White said this week was that MacDonald would get his title shot in Canada, a fact that excites him. MacDonald, 25, is originally from the Vancouver area before moving to Montreal to train to Tristar. He is 12-1 in the country during his career.

"It's amazing," MacDonald said. "I think it's a smart decision. I'm going to represent Canada. I'm going to bring the welterweight title back to Canada."

Of course, that will only bring about more comparisons to St-Pierre, Canada's greatest MMA hero.

"I don’t mind about the questions being compared to him or not," MacDonald said. "I don’t like the questions about fighting. I find that somewhat stressful and an unnecessary pressure that I constantly have to answer."

But there are probably plenty more of those to come.