MacDonald Dishes Out Words For War at UFC 154 Q&A

The anticipation continues to rise as we approach the December 8^th return of “The Prodigy” BJ Penn. Standing opposite of Penn in the UFC octagon on that upcoming December night will be the rising Tri-Star gym standout, Rory “Ares” MacDonald. The fight, which will be featured on the main card of the upcoming UFC on FOX 5 event in Seattle, Washington, will be a battle of old school vs. new school as Penn will be playing the role of the experienced and battle-tested vet looking to tame the young, fiery stallion in MacDonald. Both men knowingly admit that they will have their hands full on the 8^th but MacDonald recently had the opportunity to let his feelings toward Penn and the fight be heard on a larger stage as he took questions from the media and fans at the UFC 154 Q&A.

When asked about Penn’s training and his mindset toward this fight MacDonald made it clear that he doesn’t care what kind of BJ Penn steps in to the cage that night because he is going to fight him the same way regardless of how prepared Penn is.

“I don’t really care, I just see a body in front of me to tell you the truth. It doesn’t matter if he’s in shape or not. It’s gonna be best for you guys if he’s in shape, cause it will probably be a better fight,” MacDonald explained.

Rory also spoke about the all around skill-set that he and Penn posses. Although Penn clearly has the experience advantage coming into the fight “Ares” still feels that he has sharper tools than Penn in every position of the fight game. He made it very clear that he is not afraid to fight Penn from anywhere.

“I just think that I’m a better fighter. I’m not really scared to fight him anywhere. He’s obviously very good on the ground, and a good striker; you have to be competent in all areas of mixed martial arts, and I am,” MacDonald said.

He continued by stating, “I feel I’m a better striker, a better wrestler and better on the ground as far as MMA jiu-jitsu. Probably not straight jiu-jitsu because we all know what he’s done there, but I feel in a straight mixed martial arts fight, I’m a little more well rounded than he is.”

Interesting thoughts considering Penn has been in the game much longer than MacDonald and has almost twice as many fights. Still, it seemed the confidence “Ares” displayed during the press UFC 154 Q&A continued to grow as he spoke with the fans and media. He even explained some things about Penn that were “annoying” to him, such as the VADA testing that he and BJ are participating in prior to their fight. When asked about how the testing or even the comments Penn was making affected him MacDonald explained that he doesn’t let those things bother him and could care less about the head games BJ is trying to induce.

“He’s got a lot of excuses that guy. He likes to start (expletive); he likes to get people excited. I don’t really think about it too much. He asked me to do the VADA random testing and I accepted it,” MacDonald explained. “I’ll prove to him that I’m a clean fighter. At the end of the day, he can say whatever he wants to say, get people excited, but I’m still going to beat his ass.”

Those, my friends, are fighting words. It’s a good thing this is going to be settled in just a couple of short weeks because it seems that the boiling point is just about to be reached. We’ll see who truly gets the ass-beating on December 8^th at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. Don’t miss it fight fans!

And for more news, updates, and information on UFC on FOX 5 stay glued to BJPenn.com and follow us on twitter @bjpenndotcom & @jchastain45

The Champ Returns; RUSH Looks to Reclaim His Throne

UFC welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre is finally set to make his long awaited return from ACL knee surgery tonight in front of his home crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and to be completely honest the stakes could not be any higher. The organization is not giving GSP an easy fight to ease his way back into the sport after the 18 month layoff due to his injury. St. Pierre will be entering the octagon tonight against a man that could very well be the biggest threat he’s ever faced while defending his crown. On this frosty November night in 2012 that will likely go down in MMA history he’ll be taking on “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit; the interim UFC Welterweight Champion.

The big question that everyone is curious to find the answer to is whether GSP will come back as explosive and athletic as he was before having one of the most serious operations an athlete can undergo in his ACL knee repair. The word out of Georges’ camp is that he is stronger and faster than he was before the operation, but let’s get real for a second: the reality is that no athlete is ever stronger and faster than before such a major operation to such a critical part of what makes premiere athletes so dominant. Some athletes never return from similar operations, some come back and never find their full stride again…and some come back only to watch themselves lose all that they once had in a tragic passing of the torch.

However, we are indeed talking about Georges St. Pierre, one of the most dominant and explosive athletes we’ve ever seen in any sport, let alone in MMA. Georges has explained on several occasions that he was nervous about his return but then realized that he had nothing but the best doctors and rehabilitation specialists working with him around the clock to get him back to the top of his game. So the question everyone wants to know is, “will Georges be the same fighter?”

My guess is yes. St. Pierre has never failed to blow my expectations out of the water. He improves in every single appearance, he never stops growing, learning, and he continually becomes a better professional. As much time and money as the UFC has put in to making Jon Jones the face of the company their efforts will never elevate Jones to the level of Georges St. Pierre, not because he is not as talented or full of potential, but because St. Pierre is the most humble, honest, and respectful champion I have ever seen in any sport. The way he carries himself in and outside of the cage is unmatched by anyone and that type of professionalism does not lead to a sudden collapse after a single injury, regardless of the severity. St. Pierre is here to stay and his resurgence of dominance will be on display for the MMA world to see tonight as he battles Carlos Condit in a Champion vs. Champion bout that will tell us more about Georges St. Pierre than any of his past fights have combined. The task may not come easy but my gut tells me that GSP will, like he always has, exploit the weakness of his opponent and attack it without restraint.

Condit, although he is a dangerous fighter in every position known to the fight game, has always had a weakness in defending the takedown. Well, it just so happens that GSP has the highest takedown percentage of any fighter…ever. That should give fans a better understanding of the probability that Condit may fight the majority of this fight from his back…and the stats show that if St. Pierre is successful in taking Condit to the ground that this could be a very long, brutal night for “The Natural Born Killer”. This is not to say that Condit will not be able to stop St. Pierre’s takedown attacks. After all, Condit implemented an outstanding game plan that saw him outpoint, out speed, and outsmart Nick Diaz to claim the interim welterweight strap last February. His footwork in that fight proved to the world that Condit is surely the threat to GSP. His talent and veteran experience will test Georges, but I still have to believe that “RUSH” will be too dominant in every aspect of the fight. Condit may give GSP a run for his money, but when all is said and done St. Pierre will unify the two welterweight straps and walk away King of the UFC welterweights once again.

Tonight, the Champion will reclaim his spot atop the MMA world and leave the MMA community in awe at how great he can still look even after so much time.

-Jake Chastain