MacDonald is 22 years old and of prodigious ability. He has been pegged as a future contender by many fans and pundits - but will he fight St. Pierre if it comes to it? He says not; UFC president Dana White says he will, especially if he learns just how much money St. Pierre is making as champion.
Firas Zahabi, head coach at TriStar, disagrees. Speaking to Fighters Only recently, he said that there is more to a team relationship than money and he doesn’t think MacDonald would take a fight with St. Pierre.
“No [Dana’s] not right about that. The thing us, sometimes there are more important things than money. We have bills to pay like everybody else but we aren’t going to trample each other to do that. We have grown up together, we’ve spent years together, hours and hours training and living together. We aren’t going to let that get betweens us,” he said.
“GSP probably makes more money than any other fighter out there and yeah Rory wants to get there but we are not going to do it by sabotaging each other. I Rory has a chance to get there and I think GSP will actually help him get there by opening up doors for him.
“Don’t forget when Rory was too broke to rent a hotel room to train at TriStar, he was living with GSP - GSP took him in. And so its kind of hard to turn out on someone like that… when you are working together as a team the strength of the team is beneficial to you. The sparring partners, the coaching, the range of fighters to prepare with that can mimic your opponent - so many resources to prepare for your bouts.”
At present the point is moot anyway; MacDonald (13-1) is not at the upper end of the welterweight rankings yet and, having lost to Carlos Condit three fights ago, is probably a few fights away from a shot at the belt. However, he does have a fight with former champion BJ Penn at UFC 152 and if he earned a solid finish there, he would fast-track himself up the list and add new intensity to the teammate vs. teammate argument.
Beating someone ina fight isn't sabotaging them. It's being better than them. "Hey man I was here first. So what if you are better than me it's not nice to take my spot as a champion!" How do you have that mentality in sports?
I think Rory is going to be following in the champs footsteps until GSP retires or jumps weight. In the mean time Rory is going to start with BJ and then fight both Kos & Fitch.
I thinks it's possible Rory also may take out Diaz before GSP gets his chance.
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I really believe that people like Bill Murray or John Belushi are just as great and just as valid as Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. And I don't think you can say One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) is a better movie than Animal House (1978); they're different genres. I think they're both examples of great craftsmanship.
If twin brothers (tiki and rhonde barber) can play against each other in the nfl, Im pretty sure team-mates can fight and still keep friendly outside the ring.
If twin brothers (tiki and rhonde barber) can play against each other in the nfl, Im pretty sure team-mates can fight and still keep friendly outside the ring.
Im not for this analogy but if I were to be a better one would be the Staal brother in hockey. Did u see Eric lay out Mark?
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I really believe that people like Bill Murray or John Belushi are just as great and just as valid as Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. And I don't think you can say One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) is a better movie than Animal House (1978); they're different genres. I think they're both examples of great craftsmanship.
If twin brothers (tiki and rhonde barber) can play against each other in the nfl, Im pretty sure team-mates can fight and still keep friendly outside the ring.
That's not even the same. They are not trying to beat each other sensless. It's easy for us armchair fighters to say it would be easy to fight your friend, but honestly try imagining knocking out a friend whichis what these guys are. Ya it's a job but it's not something we have to be forced doing. Would you undercut your buddy if it meant getting you further at where you work?
I bet you alot of times when training partners wont fight it's due to the fact that the 2 men involved know who would win that fight 8 out of 10 times so why bully your buddy in front of the world?
If you notice as I did usually when 2 guys that are real close fight it's usually a brawl and a very close fight not a blow out. So I think these men involved know whats good and I trust their judgement on it.
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Quote:
I really believe that people like Bill Murray or John Belushi are just as great and just as valid as Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. And I don't think you can say One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) is a better movie than Animal House (1978); they're different genres. I think they're both examples of great craftsmanship.
TriStar coach: GSP vs MacDonald won't happen 
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