MONTREAL — The more wins Rory MacDonald accrues in the UFC, the more people wonder whether or not he would ever fight his Tristar teammate and friend Georges St-Pierre one day, potentially for the welterweight title.
The 23-year-old Canadian has repeatedly said he would never do that and he echoed those sentiments on Friday during a fan Q&A prior to the UFC 154 weigh-ins at New City Gas, a popular nightclub in downtown Montreal.
“Me and Georges are not going to fight,” MacDonald said. “We’re close friends and training partners. It’s not going to happen. I’m not in it for money. I don’t want to sacrifice a friendship or my spot at Tristar. Being there has helped me develop leaps and bounds.”
MacDonald is one of GSP’s main training partners and has competed against Carlos Condit, the man challenging St-Pierre in the main event at the Bell Centre Saturday.
“Georges is going to dominate Condit,” MacDonald added.
The B.C. native also explained that he wants a rematch with Condit in 2013 and wouldn’t mind coaching against him on The Ultimate Fighter.
MacDonald also said he plans on moving up to the middleweight division one day.
“I’ll fight at middleweight at some stage in my career. Not because I’m too big for 170, I make weight pretty easily, but I just fancy fighting at middleweight at some point.”
Currently, MacDonald is preparing for his fight with BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5 on Dec. 8 and his confidence in the matchup is shining though.
“I’m a better fighter than him. I’m not really scared anywhere the fight goes,” MacDonald explained. “I’m a better striker, I’m a better wrestler and I’m better on the ground as far as of MMA jiu-jitsu. Probably not straight jiu-jitsu, we all know what he has done there. … I’m still gonna beat his ass.”
In other UFC news:
— A welterweight matchup between Jon Fitch and Demian Maia is set for UFC 156 in February. Both men were victorious at UFC 153 in Brazil in October. Maia submitted Rick Story in the first round, while Fitch picked up a unanimous decision win over Erick Silva in a Fight of the Night performance.
“Maia hopes to move up the welterweight rankings by taking out perennial contender Fitch,” UFC president Dana White said. “Fitch wants to build on his Fight of the Night-winning victory over Erick Silva.”
— Matt Mitrione has verbally agreed to replace an injured Shane Carwin and take on former TUF 10 Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter 16 finale on Dec. 15 in Las Vegas. Mitrione was originally scheduled to face Philip De Fries at UFC 155. De Fries will receive a new opponent for the year-end event.
