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Rory MacDonald: ‘I Just Get Better as a Fighter; I Don’t Care About the Past’

The next big thing is a tag that many mixed martial artists have been saddled with early in their careers. Some have lived up to the billing, while some have crumbled under the pressure that comes with that label.When it comes to 23-year-old UFC welter…

When it comes to 23-year-old UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald, fans and pundits have kicked things up a notch, labeling the 13-1 fighter the next Georges St-Pierre. You know, just in case the pressure of being the next big thing wasn’t enough.

MacDonald will look to take the next step up the welterweight ladder when he faces former UFC champion BJ Penn on December 8, in a fight that was interesting enough to bring Penn out of retirement.

Expectations are high for MacDonald, a fighter whose only loss came at the hands of Carlos Condit in a “Fight of the Night” performance back in June 2010. Since then MacDonald has gone 3-0.

As for the fight against Penn, UFC president Dana White sees this matchup as the toughest test of MacDonald’s career. “There’s a lot of hype behind him (MacDonald), a lot of people that I respect in the business say good things about him,” White said. “I think this is a big fight for Rory. I think BJ is going to be a big test for him.”

If MacDonald is worried about the coming test, those concerns have not been evident in the days leading up to the fight. In fact, if he wanted some help with the test, he could have asked training partner Georges St-Pierre, a man who fought and defeated Penn twice in the past, but MacDonald said he hasn’t broached the subject with the welterweight champion:

I didn’t really ask him anything. I watched it (St-Pierre vs. Penn). I’m not the kind of guy that wants to know everything about somebody, I really don’t care. For all I know BJ could have completely changed his training and maybe he’s a Muay Thai fighter now, who knows. I don’t really care. I just get better as a fighter, as a martial artist; I really don’t care about the past.

The fact that MacDonald does not care about the past indicates that he’s always looking forward, always looking to move on to the next set of challenges. One of the things MacDonald is focusing on is setting himself up to be more active come 2013.

The last time MacDonald fought more than twice in a calendar year was 2006, when he racked up four fights between February and November. If he has his way, he’ll be back on that grind following his bout with Penn:

After this fight with BJ, I’m pretty much ready to fight March 8. As long as I keep my weight in check, it won’t be a problem for me to make 170 on short notice. I’m pretty much ready to go all the time now. How I’ve kind of changed things up as far as my training, I think it’s going to work well with me fighting a lot more.

When asked about the types of changes he has made in his training, MacDonald indicated that it was mostly staying healthy and being smarter about the way he prepares on a day-to-day basis:

Before I never took days off, even if I was hurt. When I feel like I’m breaking down a little bit, like my body’s breaking down, I just take a day off or I just adjust it. If I’m sparring and I mess up, I’ll go swim or something, I’ll just adjust in that kind of fashion. It’s been keeping me healthy and for me, health is most important. I know how to fight; all I really need is my health. If I’m healthy I can fight on a minutes notice.

MacDonald has had far more than a minute’s notice to prepare for Penn. In fact, he was originally set to face Penn on September 22, but MacDonald sustained a nasty cut during training, which forced the fight to be rescheduled to December 8—the day we will find out if he is able to pass the test Penn will have for him.

Note: All quotes obtained firsthand by B/R MMA.

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UFC on Fox 5: Don’t Expect Too Much from Aging BJ Penn

It’s hard to believe BJ Penn when he says that he’s rediscovered “that old fire” for his upcoming UFC on Fox 5 match against Rory MacDonald.For what it’s worth, he sounded ready to fight on today’s media call, promising to put on a show.And sure, we’ve…

It’s hard to believe BJ Penn when he says that he’s rediscovered “that old fire” for his upcoming UFC on Fox 5 match against Rory MacDonald.

For what it’s worth, he sounded ready to fight on today’s media call, promising to put on a show.

And sure, we’ve all seen that Thanksgiving video of a fit-looking Penn shadowboxing in his front yard, flexing his abs for legions of still-faithful fans.

But at the end of the day, that doesn’t really mean anything.

Oh, golly gee! BJ Penn sure looks shredded for his next fight! That’s…common.

At least, it would be common for any UFC fighter not named BJ Penn.

But over the years, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing “The Prodigy” turn up for welterweight fights looking soft and undercut. Even Penn himself noted it, saying that he trained extra hard after MacDonald called him out on his pudgy physique.

Now, Penn looks like he got in shape for a 170-pound fight. Hooray. That’s what he should’ve been doing all along.

Giving “The Prodigy” credit for getting fit is like praising a morbidly obese person for drinking diet sodas. It’s really just a minor step toward solving the much bigger problem at hand.

Is Penn still going to gas out halfway through the fight?

Is he going to mentally quit if Rory Mac turns up the pressure?

Those are the far more interesting questions we won’t get answers to until Dec. 8. But given Penn’s track record, it really won’t be much of a shock to see him turn in a half-hearted performance during the Fox main card.

Don’t get me wrong—it would be amazing if the UFC legend was able to dominate MacDonald, licking blood off his gloves and taunting a broken, defeated opponent.

But that’s unlikely to happen.

Every good fighter has an opponent that breaks him. Jon Jones broke Brandon Vera. Cain Velasquez broke Brock Lesnar. Gabriel Gonzaga broke Mirko Cro Cop.

And I believe that Frankie Edgar broke BJ Penn.

Nearly every time Penn has been on the ropes and forced to dig deep for a win, he had nothing more to give. He didn’t have enough fire to beat Georges St-Pierre or Jon Fitch. He didn’t have the will to beat Nick Diaz. And it’s hard to expect anything different when he faces Rory MacDonald.

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

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UFC on Fox 5 BJ Penn: ‘No One Mentions Me in the GOAT’S Anymore & Its My Fault’

The UFC on Fox 5 media call was held this afternoon featuring Dana White, Eric Shanks and five of the top six fighters on the stacked December 8th card from Seattle. Alex Gustafsson was unable to make the call, but it didn’t matter as most media q…

Penn is making a much-anticipated return to the Octagon against rising star Rory MacDonald. After losing to Nick Diaz over one year ago, Penn hinted at retirement. The opportunity to fight MacDonald brought him back.

Here are some comments from Penn taken from the conference call:

“I can’t sit around, I should do this while I can. Rory is one of the top guys so to fight him is a good one for me. Team Tristar is a great team. This is a great fight all around for me.”

“I really expect a lot of myself on Dec 8th. I got together with my former training team and we took my belly off. The best thing for me was the fight being postponed. Rory said he saw me and I looked fat. That he is gonna kill me in the cage and that really lit a fire under me. I expect the best BJ Penn we have ever seen.”

The young Canadian, MacDonald, has thrown a lot of disrespect towards Penn leading up to the fight. Penn has also thrown out allegations of Rory using performance-enhancing drugs. Penn refused to get into that too much today.:

“I’m not gonna sit here and get into that. I’m not gonna point fingers. Doping is a pain staking thing for the UFC. I’m not saying Rory you do steroids. I’m just trying to cover myself and look out for my own butt and make sure things are fair.”

Penn was asked his opinion on superfights, and he had glowing praise for president Dana White:

“Superfights are great. It causes a lot of hype and Dana knows that. It’s awesome. it’s what this sport is about getting the two best fighters in the world in the ring. He doesn’t allow Mayweather-Pacquiao situations, Dana White is the man.”

Penn has been in the fight game a long time and has faced the best of the best. Why does a fight with someone as UFC green as Rory MacDonald interest him? Have MacDonald’s comments given him extra motivation?

“Fighting is not a sport for me. It’s still a fight for me. I go into the fight and I just love it when my opponent says things like that. It’s all wonderful I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant asked BJ if he concerns himself with his legacy. “I was telling Dana, I watch all these interviews. No one says my name in the greatest fighters anymore and it’s my fault. I told Dana I have a real problem with that.”

What about the people who do mention him in the best of the best all time? “I want to thank all those people even Benson Henderson always gives me props. I want to be known as one of the best. I have some things left to accomplish.”

The call ended with a question about the GSP-Silva superfight. Penn was asked if he agrees with how GSP is handling it. Penn was soft in his response. “That fight is for George. I don’t want to say much on that. Everybody on this call knows what BJ would do.”

We do know what Penn would do and that is why he is one of the best of all time.

Like GSP against Penn last time, and like Silva against GSP in the future superfight, MacDonald will have a huge size advantage over Penn come December 8th. Penn simply doesn’t care and will risk it.

That is what sets him apart.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca UFC. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

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B.J. Penn: "My Fault" I’m No Longer Considered an All-Time Great

B.J. Penn sees the clock ticking.That’s why the ex-champ is preparing as hard as he ever has for his next fight, a welterweight showdown with up-and-comer Rory MacDonald taking place December 8.”I know I won’t be able to do this for the rest of my life…

B.J. Penn sees the clock ticking.

That’s why the ex-champ is preparing as hard as he ever has for his next fight, a welterweight showdown with up-and-comer Rory MacDonald taking place December 8.

“I know I won’t be able to do this for the rest of my life. I want to be the best B.J. Penn I can be,” Penn said Tuesday during a media conference call in advance of UFC on Fox 5. “My whole life is focused on December 8…I really expect a lot out of myself.”

Penn, 33, said he has whittled his body fat percentage down to single digits during training camp. But if Father Time wasn’t adversary enough, Penn (16-8-2) also placed the rationale for his intensified training on MacDonald’s shoulders. After their initial fight date fell through following a MacDonald injury, the two traded jabs on Twitter, with MacDonald calling Penn out of shape.

“Rory called me fat, and it lit a fire under my butt,” Penn said. “Delaying the fight was the best thing that could have happened…Saying I’m fat, I can’t do this or can’t do that, it was wonderful.”

Still, Penn blamed himself for “not preparing properly” for previous fights and implied that he believes he may have squandered a bit of his own potential legacy, despite the championship heights he has attained.

“No one says my name anymore when they talk about the greatest fighters ever, and I know it’s my fault,” Penn said. “That really bothers me…I’ve got a real problem with that.”

Penn said he had no fighting plans beyond December 8, preferring to focus intently on the here and now.

“I don’t want to just be good back in the day,” Penn said. “I have something left to accomplish.”

MacDonald is currently a significant favorite to win the fight. But if Penn’s pre-fight comments are any indication, he is by no means ready to collect a final paycheck and fade into the Hawaiian sunset.

“Fighting is still not a sport for me,” Penn said. “It’s a fight for me. I’m not a great athlete who can play every different sport. But I can always fight back.”

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.

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Rory, Beware: BJ Penn Looking Pretty Damn Motivated Two Weeks Out From ‘UFC on FOX 5?

(Props: 0fficialbjpenn)

Check out the short video above and ask yourself one question: Has BJ Penn ever looked in better shape for a 170-pound fight? The former two-division champ released this video on Thanksgiving — 16 days before his December 8th meeting with Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 5 — and the video title claims that he’s already at 175 pounds, a quick schvitz away from making his welterweight limit. And to borrow an uncomfortable running gag from the UG, that’s 175 pounds of solid, thick, tightness.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Prodigy might be hitting the…actually, I’m not even going to go there. But bottom line, this is what a “motivated Penn” looks like. We found him, you guys. And for comparison, this is what a trench-coat model looks like. Does BJ have one more triumph left in him?

(Props: 0fficialbjpenn)

UFC on FOX 5: BJ Penn in Great Shape Two Weeks Before Rory MacDonald Fight

Ask and you shall receive: Looks like UFC welterweight contender Rory MacDonald will get his wish and fight the “best BJ (Penn)” at UFC on FOX 5 on Dec. 8.A video uploaded from “The Prodigy’s” official YouTube channel on Thursday titled “175 Pounds – A…

Ask and you shall receive: Looks like UFC welterweight contender Rory MacDonald will get his wish and fight the “best BJ (Penn)” at UFC on FOX 5 on Dec. 8.

A video uploaded from “The Prodigy’s” official YouTube channel on Thursday titled “175 Pounds – Almost On Fight Weight!!” shows off a lean, mean version of the Hawaiian.

The former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion can even boast about having noticeable ab definition in the video, a rare sight for a fighter who has often had the strength and conditioning portion of his fight champs questioned.

The two were originally scheduled to square off at UFC 152 in front of a Toronto, Ontario home crowd for “Ares,” but MacDonald was forced to postpone the bout due to a nasty cut suffered during training.

Despite being just 1-3-1 in his past five fights, Penn would be put right back into the title conversation with a win over a consensus top-10 welterweight like MacDonald.

Meanwhile, MacDonald, a Tri-Star gym training partner of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, is riding a three-fight win streak, with his sole loss being a shocking come-from-behind effort by Carlos Condit.

The guidance of “Rush” could be particularly useful for MacDonald leading up to this fight, given that GSP holds two career victories over Penn.

Dec. 8 marks over 13 months outside of the Octagon for Penn, who retired after losing a lopsided decision to Nick Diaz at UFC 137 in October last year.

However, he found MacDonald’s challenge back in June just too intriguing to turn down.

Will the 33-year-old Penn be able to resurrect his career in two weeks, or will the 23-year-old MacDonald be too much for the UFC legend to handle?

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