• UFC 145

GSP won't fight MacDonald, hints at middleweight move

Georges St-Pierre has revealed he will never fight up-and-coming star Rory MacDonald, hinting he may move to middleweight to make way for the young Canadian.

MacDonald takes part in the UFC 145 co-main event this weekend when he fights England's Che Mills. A huge favourite to win, MacDonald is tipped to one day own St-Pierre's UFC welterweight belt.

St-Pierre, on the comeback from a knee injury, is preparing to fight a fellow Greg Jackson fighter Carlos Condit later this year. But, having trained and worked closely with compatriot MacDonald, St-Pierre insists he would never share the same Octagon with the 22-year-old.

"I'm not interested in fighting him," St-Pierre was quoted as saying by MMA Junkie. "There are a lot of welterweights. I don't think we need to do it now.

"In two years, who knows? I may go to middleweight. Who knows what's going to happen?"

MacDonald echoed the champion's thoughts about a potential fight, saying: "Me and Georges are team-mates and friends. So it's not going to get to that point of Rashad [Evans] and [Jon] Jones. I understand people want to see that drama, but I'm not bringing the drama. Me and Georges will work together and hopefully he retires or he moves up [in weight] or whatever. I'll wait my turn."

Explaining the difference between MacDonald and Condit, St-Pierre pointed out that he barely ever trains with Condit. By contrast, he and MacDonald have become good friends.

"I have a hard time fighting guys I like already," GSP said. "When I fought Jake Shields, I had a hard time fighting him. So fighting a friend? I can't do it. Right now, there are so many guys right now, it's not an issue.

"But I know one day [MacDonald] is going to be world champion."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.