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“I Would Never Do That” – Rory MacDonald Talks About Fighting Georges St-Pierre

Published 10/27/2020, 5:22 PM EDT

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Rory MacDonald has been a top welterweight in the sport of mixed martial arts for a long time. The former UFC title contender has currently found his new home in the PFL. Despite being around the 170-pounds division when Georges St-Pierre was around, MacDonald would’ve never thought about fighting ‘GSP’.

Rory MacDonald‘s rise in the UFC coincided with the reign of Georges St-Pierre. However, that wasn’t the only common connection between the two welterweights. Both the fighters trained out of the Tristar Gym in Montreal. On top of it, MacDonald had also developed a good friendship with the former welterweight champion.

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Teammates fighting each other is something that has taken place before. Therefore, the question of fighting ‘GSP’ was put in front of MacDonald a sufficient number of times. Despite all these years going by and both Rory and ‘GSP’ being at different stages in their lives, MacDonald’s answer remains unchanged.

It’s a question that I got asked a lot of times in my younger UFC career because I was training with Georges. I was winning fights, and he was a champion for the whole time and so everyone wanted to see,” MacDonald said while talking exclusively to Essentially Sports.

“Oh yeah, when is he going to take on George, you know, they are teammates; they wanted to; they are always asking about it in every interview I did for years and years and years. I have always said that I would never do that,” Rory added.

Rory MacDonald explains what made Georges St-Pierre great

A future Hall-of-Famer, many consider Georges St-Pierre as the greatest fight of all time. Having watched ‘GSP’ prepare for fights from a close quarter, MacDonald can give a good insight into what made ‘GSP’ great.

I would compare both of our careers. George always shows up, and he is always clutch in the big moment, in the big fights and he never disappoints. Whereas if you look at my career. I am not always the most clutch guys, sometimes I lose focus and I don’t show up and I think, that’s been, you know, an issue in my career but George is always rock solid,” Rory MacDonald said.

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Back in 2013, in the lead up to MacDonald’s fight against Jake Ellenberger, there were high chances that the winner would become the No. 1 contender for the belt that ‘GSP’ held. St-Pierre had his own challenge lined up in the form of Johny Hendricks.

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Despite both of them winning their respective fights, a clash between the two never came to fruition. This was because St-Pierre took a break from the sport. MacDonald did get his shot at UFC gold. However, he came short in the all-time classic fight against Robbie Lawler.

EXCLUSIVE: Rory MacDonald Opens Up on his Upcoming PFL Journey and Beyond

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Written by:

Rishabh Singh

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Rishabh Singh is an MMA author at EssentiallySports since 2020. An engineer in the making, his love for combat sports began by watching Anderson Silva light people up inside the Octagon. When he isn't busy in his technical pursuits, he is an avid reader with a love for sports in general and sporting history in particular.
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