Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald will fight.
So said UFC president Dana White anyway, but that’s probably news to the welterweight champion and his Tristar training partner. Both have consistently and relentlessly denied that they’ll ever stand across the Octagon from each other. And yet the questions continue.
Perhaps something primal in us secretly delights in seeing strife created between two friends. Whatever the reason, neither man can get away from the same question—even in the days leading up to very important fights for both of them—and it is visibly apparent that MacDonald, at least, is getting tired of answering it.
“Nope. Next question,” MacDonald said.
And yet the question kept coming.
“I am not going to fight Georges,” MacDonald said with a hint of exasperation during Thursday’s pre-fight press conference.
White begs to differ.
“Obviously, you guys…your job is to push him and to ask, OK, what are you going to do? He will fight Georges St-Pierre. I know it. You know it. Everybody knows it,” White said.
“You can’t read this kid, that he wants to fight Georges St-Pierre? He’s living in Georges St-Pierre’s house. You don’t say, ‘I want to punch the face of the guy whose house I am living in.'”
MacDonald may cement his place as the UFC’s next welterweight challenger on Saturday night at UFC 167. He’s a favorite over Robbie Lawler for a reason, and this is not to say that Lawler stands no chance of winning. But MacDonald is one of the UFC’s brightest stars, and outside of a loss to Carlos Condit a few years ago, he has been virtually untouchable.
St-Pierre has hinted that he has plans for the future, and he may announce those plans in the cage after his fight against Johny Hendricks on Saturday night. Perhaps he’s considering retirement. Maybe he’s looking at a move down to lightweight or up to middleweight.
But until St-Pierre clarifies those plans, the pointless questions will continue. Will he fight MacDonald? Will MacDonald fight him?
No matter how the questions are phrased, the answer from both men will remain the same: It’s not happening and never will.
All quotes were obtained firsthand.
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