There is little question that Rory MacDonald is one of the brightest shining stars in the UFC’s welterweight division, if not the entire UFC. At just 22 years old, the British Columbia native already finds himself nearing welterweight contention, and while a win over Che Mills at UFC 145 later this month doesn’t sound all that impressive, it might just be enough to thrust him headlong into the title mix.
Mills may seem like a step backwards for MacDonald, and that’s true in just about every way. Mills has one fight in the UFC and is literally an unknown fighter, and yet he’ll step into the cage for the co-main event of one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year. That seems a little strange to me.
But, to hear MacDonald tell it, he doesn’t really care who the opponent is, because he’ll fight anyone the UFC puts in front of him:
I’ll honestly fight whoever is put in front of me right now. That means Mike Pyle, Che Mills or Carlos Condit. It doesn’t make a difference to me. I’m confident of beating every man currently competing in the 170-pound division, and that’s the truth. I’m ready for them all.
There’s one name curiously omitted from that list of names, isn’t there? Where is Georges St-Pierre? You know, the UFC welterweight champion and the guy MacDonald will ostensibly face if he secures a title shot at some point in 2012?
I understand MacDonald’s omission of St-Pierre’s name. I don’t believe there’s much of a chance that MacDonald will face St-Pierre. Not now, not ever. They’re training partners, and MacDonald uprooted his life to move to Montreal and train with the best welterweight in the world. That sounds like an American Kickboxing Academy situation to me.
If MacDonald gets past Mills—and I fully expect him to do just that with relative ease—he’ll have some tough decisions to make. You can’t say you’ll fight anyone when you won’t fight the champion in your division, so that means he’ll need to vacate the division and head north or south.
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