Rory MacDonald’s Trainer Speaks Out
Posted on 06 Jun 2012
by MMAScoops.com Staff

With a fight on the horizon between Rory MacDonald and B.J. Penn, a victory could put MacDonald in position for a title shot with a victory. His trainer – Tristar Gym's Firas Zahabi – spoke with MMAJunkie about the chances of MacDonald facing his training partner Georges St-Pierre. Here are some highlights:

About the possibility of MacDonald facing St-Pierre: "We're not going to make a problem out of it before it becomes a problem. If it ever comes to that point, we'll sit down and discuss who's going to shift weight or not. But there are a lot of fights before there's that bottleneck. ... I don't think we're there. I think we're a long way from there."

"Definitely the two aren't going to fight. We've agreed on that several times. We work together too often. I work with the two guys religiously, constantly over the years, so I could never condone that. You spend too much time with each other, and you're not going to be punching each other in the face."

"It's the UFC, I think they want to see that fight. And when the UFC offers you a fight like that, I think it's because the fans want to see it. And us, we never say no to a fight the fans want to see, and I know B.J. Penn loves to give the fans what they want. In the end, I just think it's a matchup everyone wants to see."