Separated by just Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit in the UFC's welterweight rankings, champion Georges St-Pierre is again adamant he will never face longtime training partner Rory MacDonald.
"No. No, I'm not interested," says St-Pierre, laughing at the notion. MacDonald, in lockstep with St-Pierre, says their understanding surpasses loyalty. "A friendship. Georges has done a lot for me as a young person. He welcomed me to Montreal. He was one of the only people to help me a lot when I first got here. These things I don't forget."
St-Pierre, who has mentored MacDonald since his move from British Columbia to Montreal's TriStar gym in August 2010, says he's learned as much from his protégé as he's passed on.
"If you reverse the situation, we fight each other everyday in the training," says St-Pierre. "He helped me get better as a martial artist and I help him get better as a martial artist as well. I'm not interested in fighting him. There's other ways of doing things. I have plans for the future, other things. I can't talk about it right now, but people will see soon."
"I believe Rory will be champion. He's got all the attributes physically, mentally. No doubt about that. He's the new guy, the new generation. He's the creme of the creme."
With St-Pierre due to appear in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, could the UFC champ be looking to move on from fighting sooner than later? In the meantime, he faces what some call his toughest test to date in Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov. 16.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
The NEW. Eddie Alvarez says he's moved on from his rocky past with Bellator. "I let every ounce of anger, every ounce of animosity I had...I let it all go."
Gracie on Gracie. Renzo Gracie says Royce has no room to talk about the family's next generation of fighters if he's not lending a hand raising them. "In order to make a negative comment about the Gracie family, you have to help the Gracie family. You have to actually be producing new champions, putting your time to build new champions. I don't remember Royce doing that."
20 in 20. Chuck Mindenhall's series reaches 2006, the year Chris Leben and Rich Franklin met a man named Silva.
Hendo. Dan Henderson talks upcoming bout with Vitor Belfort, re-upping with the UFC and retirement.
Kennedy on Vitor. Tim Kennedy says Vitor Belfort is a cheater, but would still fight him. "It's embarrassing to be part of the sport and have athletes that are manipulating the system like that. It's mixed martial arts, and it's supposed to be about integrity and character and all the things that go with being a martial artist. This is obviously a spit in the face of every martial artist out there."
It's Tuesday, so make sure to check out this week's The MMA Hour with Eddie Alvarez, Dominick Cruz , Joey Beltran, Dan Henderson, Gunnar Nelson, The legendary Renzo Gracie and "King" Bobby Green.
MEDIA STEW
Dana White's vlog for Fight For the Troops.
Free fight: Johny Hendricks vs. Charlie Brenneman at UFC 117.
This week's Knuckle Up with Eugene S. Robinson.
Great mini-doc on Brian Ebersole.
Tommy Toe Hold answers your questions.
TUF Brazil alum Thiago Goncalves' 26 second KO vs. Shingo Suzuki at Pancrase 253.
AWOL 2. Don't miss the co-main event at 1:44:30.
Bruno Scornavacca's 95 second KO in Brazil. Guilherme tells me Bruno was a famous pop singer in the early 2000's and that he and his brothers were the Brazilian Hanson.
TWEETS
Chuck got a little squirrely yesterday.
New suggestions, anyone?
The infinity gauntlet of coaches.
These tweets sorta even each other out.
Napoleon Miller.
Is it Brazilian winter?
4-1, Chandler?!
Trump card.
Leave Jessica alone, you cretans.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Nov. 2013)
Katsunori Kikuno vs. Quinn Mulhern at UFC Fight Night 34
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via SkittlePuffs.
The Agony & Ecstasy of Silva vs Weidman 2
This is possibly one of the most problematic fights to ever be booked, not only because of what it means for both Silva & Weidmans legacies, but because who and how they win potentially creates more questions than it does answers.
Let's say Silva goes in and gets dominated for 5 rounds but pulls out a crazy sub or knockout in the bottom of the fifth. Do you do an immediate rubbermatch? Historically there aren't grounds for it, Weidman hasn't had some hugely dominant run as champion, and while they gave Chael a quick rematch it wasn't immediate. There's also the issue of contenders, with Lyoto Machida's devastating KO of Mark Munoz, and the rise of both Jacare and Vitor 2.0 (or TRT, depending who you ask) it would seem nearly unjust to grant the immediate rubber match. That being said, from a business perspective it is nearly suicidal because the likelihood of Weidman walking through any of the previously mentioned is wildly unlikely so you risk a massive payday, and potentially Weidmans legacy if you don't do the immediate rubbermatch.
Now let's suppose Silva goes in and flash KO's Weidman in the first round. You face the same issue here because they are effectively 1-1 and we still don't really know who the real current champ is. Most would argue that's how the first fight should have gone, but if they don't go a full round it will be difficult to argue that Silva was just always the superior fighter and Weidman really never had anything for him. So while Silva regains the belt and no immediate rematch is justified we walk away wondering whether the first one was a fluke or not.
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Check out the rest of the post here.
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