Rory MacDonald shrugs off trash talk before UFC on Fox 8

Rory “The Canadian Psycho” MacDonald knows that Jake Ellenberger’s doing his best to get in his head before the two square off in Saturday’s UFC on Fox 8 welterweight bout. He’s seen it all before and knows this kind of thing is just part of the business.

Not that you can blame Ellenberger for trying to get MacDonald off his game. MacDonald, a native of Quesnel, British Columbia, is 14-1 in his MMA fights (4-1 UFC) and there is some talk that he could be in for a title shot if he keeps rolling on this streak. MacDonald is also hearing some comparisons to Georges St-Pierre, his training partner, but Ellenberger isn’t impressed.

“He’s been absolutely overblown in the media, like this guy is GSP (St-Pierre),” Ellenberger told reporters. “Listen, there’s only one GSP in the world, and he’s been proving time and time again that he’s the best. For guys to say MacDonald’s the next GSP or GSP 2.0? Give me a break. It totally irritates me.”

Well, so far at least, MacDonald’s track record speaks for itself. He won a unanimous decision over B.J Penn at UFC on Fox 5 back in December and also has a win over Nate Diaz under his belt. MacDonald’s only loss came to Carlos Condit and he had control of that fight before getting caught in the third round.

“It’s just a part of fight sports,” MacDonald said of Ellenberger’s trash talk. “Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. But it doesn’t affect my mindset going into this fight. … At the end of the day, this is a fight, underneath all the illusions, and all the pressure people want to put on, it is a fight. And I’m looking at that obstacle. Nothing else.”

Sports Interaction has MacDonald listed as a -278 favourite against Ellenberger, who has won four of his last five fights. Both fighters have heavy hands and Ellenberger probably has the edge in wrestling, though I think MacDonald wins in a decision here. Ellenberger is going to be a tough guy to deal with down the road, but MacDonald is just too well-rounded. The Canadian gets it done in Seattle on Saturday.