Rory MacDonald: 'I won't stab Georges St. Pierre in the back by fighting him'
Rory MacDonald (18-2) will likely be watching UFC 181 carefully this Saturday, as he has been promised the winner of the welterweight title main event bout between champion Johny Hendricks and challenger Robbie Lawler. "The Red King" is looking forward to challenging for UFC gold next, in his home nation of Canada, but don't expect his path to ever cross inside the Octagon with his teammate and mentor Georges St. Pierre.
St. Pierre is retired and recovering from serious knee injuries, but many (including his head coach Firas Zahabi and UFC president Dana White) expect the long-time 170 pound king to return to competition at some point. If GSP does return some day the young protege is stubbornly insisting that the two will never fight.
In fact, MacDonald has long held this line, even as he appeared close to a title shot when St. Pierre was champion. At the time, White promised the world that St. Pierre's financial success would make MacDonald envious enough to take on his mentor.
"I guarantee you if Rory looks looks at GSP's [expletive] bank account, he'll want to beat the [expletive] out of him," White said.
In a recent interview on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast (below), MacDonald opened up and specified the reasons why he's steadfast in his decision to never fight his friend St. Pierre. MacDonald remembered how, when he moved to Montreal to train at Zahabi and St. Pierre's Tri Star Gym, "Rush" welcomed him with open arms, and never seemed threatened or territorial, despite sharing a weight class with the young phenom.
"He welcomed [me]," MacDonald said.
"I never forgot it, either. A lot of people now are asking me to fight him, this and that. They don't see the things that I got to see, that I appreciate. Not only as a martial artist, but for myself. I learned so much from him and I gained a lot from his kindness and what he gave to me. I'm not going to forget that and stab him in the back."
As for White's claim that riches would be enough to compel MacDonald to disrupt his training regimen, friendships and entire approach that has gotten him to where he is, by fighting St. Pierre, the 25 year-old struck a philosophical note.
"You know what? Life's not about money," he said.
"Obviously, I'm doing this for money, also, but it has never been my goal to be a [expletive] billionaire. I'm going to live in the woods one day. Hunt, be weird, not have to listen to people call me a psycho all the time."
Should GSP return to fighting at a moment where MacDonald were welterweight champion, the British Columbia native says he imagines St. Pierre would simply just take "super fights," and not vie for the belt again. MacDonald himself also expressed a desire to move up in weight.
"I'll move up [in weight]," he said.
"Not because I have to. I've talked about it before. It's just sort of curiosity and the experience to fight bigger guys. But I want to do what I have to do at this division first...I want to overcome obstacles and test myself and find out who I really am."
Check out the entire wide-ranging conversation between UFC commentator Joe Rogan and MacDonald in the video above, and then let us know what you think in the comments section!
