Rory McDonald not budging on fighting teammate, champ Georges St-Pierre

(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

LAS VEGAS – For Rory MacDonald, it’s another day, and another set of questions about whether or not he ever would fight his friend and training partner, Georges St-Pierre.

The Canadian welterweight, over the past 18 months, probably has been asked more about fighting St-Pierre, the UFC’s 170-pound champion, than he has been about the opponents he’s actually been fighting and beating – a list that includes former two-division champ B.J. Penn.

MacDonald (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) on Saturday meets Robbie Lawler (21-9 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on the main card of UFC 167 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

But what many people are thinking about is not how he will get past the hard-hitting southpaw, but what will happen if he does.

If he beats Lawler and St-Pierre (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC) successfully defends his title in the main event against Johny Hendricks (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC), will they have to fight? Will they ever fight?

For MacDonald, the answers come quickly and easily.

“Nope,” MacDonald told USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie. “Next question.”

St-Pierre is the top-ranked welterweight in the most recent USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie rankings, while MacDonald is No. 4 behind Hendricks and Carlos Condit. A win for both “GSP” and MacDonald will lead to calls to force the issue of a meeting between the teammates, who train together at Tristar Gym in Montreal.

St-Pierre is more than a 2-1 favorite against Hendricks, while MacDonald is more than a 3-1 favorite against Lawler.

MacDonald said he’s content to wait things out should they both have their hands raised on Saturday, even if it means he’s second fiddle to St-Pierre for many fights to come.

“You just keep taking fights, and take it one step at a time,” MacDonald said.

The 24-year-old brings a five-fight winning streak into the bout with Lawler, who has won back-to-back fights by knockout since returning to the UFC after an absence of more than eight years. His lone loss came against Condit with seven seconds left in a fight he was controlling for the first two rounds.

His wins have been dominant, but his most recent performance, a July decision against Jake Ellenberger, was criticized by UFC President Dana White for being lackluster.

MacDonald said that’s because Ellenberger was not willing to engage, and he doesn’t believe the same will be an issue on Saturday night against Lawler.

That is what’s on his mind, not a fight against his mentor and training partner that he continues to insist never will happen.

And he certainly doesn’t want to entertain the thought of winning and St-Pierre losing, a scenario that could see him getting the next shot at the title.

“I’m just focusing on myself,” MacDonald said. “I can’t control those things.

“I think me and Georges are both going to have great performances and everything will fall in place as God plans.

“I have faith in that. I’m really just focusing on Robbie.”

For more on UFC 167, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.