Firas Zahabi: Rory MacDonald will get his title shot when GSP retires

Famed TriStar Gym trainer Firas Zahabi suggested today that surging Welterweight contender will wait for training partner Georges St. Pierre to retire rather than face him for the title. There are many fighters looking for the next title shot at 170 right now, but MacDonald is considered the future of the division and an eventual title contender. Longtime champ GSP is obviously coming off of ACL surgery and it remains to be seen how he will bounce back, tenatively set to face Interim champion Carlos Condit. Knowing both well, Zahabi came out with the following via FightNerd.com:

“I’m not worried about the title right now. I’m just worried about making sure Rory keeps winning. You know, making sure he’s on the right side of the judge’s decision, the knockout or submission. Georges is the champion of MacDonald’s weight class. They’re teammates and they won’t fight each other. We’re going to have to wait until Georges retires. I don’t think that’s going to be soon. Also, one of them could change weight classes. That could also solve the problem.”

It appears that Zahabi is focused on the task at hand, getting MacDonald ranked as highly as possible while assisting GSP in his rehab and retention of the belt. He is not shy when addressing the controversy of two teammates fighting one another for the title, perhaps looking to avoid the hype and fallout of a situation like Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans. He held high praise for his 22-year-old protege with the following:

“Rory’s great. He’s a hard working kid, he wants to be champion one day and he’s got all his eggs in one basket. What I mean is that he doesn’t do anything else but train.”

Zahabi knows the goals and will of MacDonald, who earlier this week challenged retired former champion BJ Penn to come back and face him. Penn accepted, and if MacDonald wins that fight, he will inch very close to the top of the Welterweight rankings. However, it appears that his title shot is quite some time off unless longtime kingpin Georges St.Pierre is somehow knocked off of his throne.

Further Reading: BJ Penn: Rory, I accept your challenge

Photo: MMARingreport.com