Breitmann Tuning » otham; Fred Trueman and Brian Statham; Harmi

Georges St-Pierres departure from the welterweight scene, temporary or otherwise, changed the playing field for everyone in the UFCs 170-pound weight class. None more so than Rory (Ares) MacDonald. The 24-year-old can finally chase the title unencumbered. MacDonald, ranked No. 2 among welterweight contenders, trains at the same Montreal gym as the former UFC champion. St-Pierre has been one of his mentors. They share coaches and training partners. As MacDonald rose up the rankings, he and St-Pierre were constantly asked about whether the allies would ever fight. "It was pretty much any interview I did," said MacDonald. Now the landscape ahead is clear. "I feel like Im on my own path now," he said in an interview this week at Quebec City, where he was making appearances for the UFC around "The Ultimate Fighter Nations" finale card. "As much as I didnt think it was bothering me at the time, it was. Its a distraction, its always something in the back of your head. I never wanted any drama there, anything like that but at the same time I wanted what I wanted -- the (championship) belt. "So right now, the way it all worked out, I feel a lot less stress about it. I just feel like Im having fun, enjoying my time." MacDonald returns to his home province June 14 to face No. 3 Tyron (The Chosen One) Woodley in the co-main event at UFC 174 in Vancouvers Rogers Arena. The 32-year-old Woodley, an explosive former two-time All American wrestler from the University of Missouri, went 8-1 in Strikeforce before moving into the UFC. He opened his UFC account with a 36-second knockout of Jay Hieron. After a split-decision loss to Jake Shields, he bounced back with wins over Josh Koscheck and Carlos (The Natural Born Killer) Condit. The winner between MacDonald (16-2) and Woodley (13-2) will likely get a title shot at Johny Hendricks, who is recovering from bicep surgery and a fractured shin following his championship win over (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 in March. MacDonald said he is happy to fight again before a possible title shot. "I wanted to. I didnt want to sit on the sidelines anyway," he said. "I think me against Tyron is a great matchup for a No. 1 contender shot. Weve both had good wins and good showings in our UFC careers." MacDonald watched the Hendricks-Lawler title fight from Hawaii where he was vacationing with his father and brother. He saw it as a close contest that came down to the fifth round. "I was really pulling for Lawler because I fought him in the past and have a lot of respect for the guys I fight," MacDonald said. "Obviously I was excited to see him do that well. "I just think Hendricks was the better man in the very end of the fight. He pushed it. He pushed through being tired, being hurt. Thats what a champion does. .. He finished hard, he won that last round. And thats what won him the fight in my opinion." MacDonald lost a split decision to Lawler at UFC 167 last November, when GSP won a controversial split decision over Hendricks. MacDonald admits there was a time before the Lawler bout when he did not enjoying fighting. "I had a lot of injuries I was battling through," he said. "It weighs on you." Looking back, he says he probably should have pulled out. "They (the injuries) were pretty serious. But I was sick of doing that," he said. "I was sick of getting injured before a fight, pulling out. I think fans were really annoyed with me doing that. I just had to fight through that." His only other loss was to Condit in June 2010 -- a TKO with seven seconds remaining -- at UFC 115 in Vancouver. It was MacDonalds second fight in the UFC and the adrenalin was pumping. He dominated the early going but the veteran Condit rallied in the final round. His first fight was a small televised event in January 2010 in Fairfax, Va., where Macdonald submitted Mike Guymon in four minutes 27 seconds. The frenzy of the Condit fight -- and audience -- took MacDonald by surprise. "People were going insane," MacDonald recalled in an earlier interview. "I never heard that level of noise in a building ... I was super-shocked and it just got me fired up to a point where it was, like, bad. If you watch that fight you could see the intensity that I was bringing and I dont think that was my style. And I paid for it." The loss was humiliating for MacDonald. "Because I was just laying there getting beaten on," he told reporters after his December 2012 win over B.J. Penn in Seattle. "My face looked like I was a guy from The Goonies after. I was embarrassed, I was embarrassed about my performance and how I held myself. It did a lot of damage and I dont think Ive been the same person since." The loss changed MacDonald. He moved from Kelowna, B.C., to Montreal in the aftermath to train with coach Firas Zahabi, St-Pierre and other elite fighters at the Tristar Gym. He also focused on fighting without emotion, reasoning that it contributed to the loss in Vancouver. MacDonald was slated to meet Condit again at UFC 158 in March 2013 but had to pull out due to injury. Hendricks stepped in and won, setting up his title shot against St-Pierre. MacDonald, meanwhile, rebounded from the Lawler loss with a unanimous decision over Brazilian submission ace Demian Maia at UFC 170 in February. Talk to MacDonald these days and you notice how big he is. The six-footer may fight at 170 pounds but its a weight he serves only occasionally. He walks around at 200 pounds. "Im big right now. Im not dieting but Im in shape," he said. MacDonald was just 14 when he started training in MMA. Born in Quesnel, B.C., MacDonald started training with David Lea in Kelowna. He had his first pro fight at age 16 in Prince George, because it was the only place to let him fight. Even then, his parents had to give their approval. He won the King of the Cage Canadian lightweight title at 18 -- in his sixth fight -- and the King of the Cage world 155-pound title in his next outing a year later. MacDonald became the UFCs youngest fighter when he signed on at 20 in the fall of 2009. Years later, he is comfortable in his own skin and happy with his fighting career. And while he is in a sport that often rewards self-promoters, MacDonald does things his own way. "Im not here to talk," he said. "Im not a great promoter but I believe I am one of the best fighters in the world. And Im going to be the best fighter in the world eventually. And I think people are going to appreciate what I bring to the cage." Sergio Romo Jersey . 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The 26-year-old Redditch, England, native played three of his past four seasons under Rennie with the Carolina RailHawks of the North American Soccer League.Bob Willis looks ahead to Englands second Investec Test against Sri Lanka in Durham on Friday, and says who he would pick in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes... I would go with Jake Ball. Weve seen Chris Woakes in the Test arena and, for my money, hasnt quite been good enough.The selectors would say Woakes is the nearest like-for-like replacement to Stokes. A better batsman than Liam Plunkett - who may have been considered - but not as good a bowler, in my opinion. Liam Plunkett (left) was possibly considered as a potential replacement for Ben Stokes He took only two wickets in the two Test matches he played in South Africa over the winter, but England are quite obsessed with a long batting order - he was also part of the win in South Africa and the selectors like to keep faith with people they know.England may also have thought about bringing Adil Rashid in, with him likely to be needed in Bangladesh and India this winter, but hell have needed his gloves up in Durham - I dont think its weather suited to leg-spin.Woakes does well for Warwickshire, takes wickets for fun in fact, and has captained them in Ian Bells absence, but with this series being played against Sri Lanka in late May and early June, it gives England an opportunity to look at someone like Ball. Chris Woakes took astonishing figures of 9-36 for Warwickshire in his most recent outing He was in the squad for the first Test so deserves the first opportunity and its not as if were playing Australia or South Africa, so I would bring Ball in for Stokes and move everyone up the batting order - Jonny Bairstow to six, Moeen Ali to seven.Bairstow said in interview at Headingley that he was perfectly comfortable batting at seven - he and Stokes are clearly given licence by Trevor Bayliss to play their shots, and thats the way he likes to play, but six would still be perfect for him. Jonny Bairstow is in great form with the bat, hitting 140 in the first Test at Headingley And it was only a few months ago that Moeen was opening the batting in the UAE, so theyd still have proper batting down the seven.ddddddddddddStuart Broad has got his confidence back as a batsman, although whether he has got his skill back is another thing. But theres nobody who is going to knock his head off in this Sri Lankan attack and hed be a perfectly adequate number eight.With the ball, I thought Broad was a little unlucky not to take more wickets at Headingley. He and James Anderson both bowled beautifully throughout and it could easily have been Broad the one who picked up 10 wickets in the match. Are Stuart Broad (left) and James Anderson (right) Englands best ever opening pair? As Steve Harmison said when joining us last week on The Verdict, theyre now the best pair of opening bowlers England have ever had.Better than myself and Sir Ian Botham; Fred Trueman and Brian Statham; Harmison and Matthew Hoggard - thats high praised indeed. But its hard to argue against as theyre approaching 800 wickets between them.Theyre phenomenal bowlers, particularly in English conditions. And without Tillakaratne Dilshan, Majela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara - asking this Sri Lanka team to come and face the likes of Broad and Anderson, in May, is a bridge too far for most of them. They tried to attack, tried to defend, but whichever they did they couldnt cope with Englands bowling.Its not going to be 25 degrees so clearly the Sri Lankans wont be that comfortable, but weve had to play in Colombo in 40 degrees, so they have to play over here in just 10 degree weather in Durham.England have got all bases covered. I cant see things changing in the second Test.Watch England take on Sri Lanka in the second Investec Test at Emirates Riverside from 10am on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD. Also See: Anderson takes 10 in England win WATCH: Players of First Test England fixtures/results Sri Lanka fixtures/results ' ' '