Canada’s own Rory MacDonald has found a home in one of the Great White North’s most renowned MMA gyms.

MacDonald, who has a bout with Che Mills set for this Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans, joined up with the fighters at TriStar Gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada last year and has pushed forward ever since.

Following a loss to Carlos Condit, who currently wears a share of the UFC welterweight title, MacDonald has defeated Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle to position himself as a rising star in the division at just 22 years old.

With the co-main event slot set to shine bright on him this weekend, “Aries” knows he is in for a skyrocket to the top if he can handle Mills.

“I trained here (TriStar) part time, but I moved here and began training here from British Columbia about a year-and-a-half ago,” said MacDonald, in a recent interview with FightLine. “Training with Firas (Zahabi) has been awesome and all the other coaches have been really beneficial. By training here, I have specialized coaches for MMA, boxing, strength and conditioning, wrestling, etc. Another benefit is all the top training partners that come here.”

Among those that consider TriStar a home are current UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and former title contender Kenny Florian. Zahabi is also the head trainer for St-Pierre.

“I’ve been training since I was very young and fell in love with it,” MacDonald said. “From the very beginning, I set goals for myself so I am not surprised that I have accomplished all that I have up until this point. One of my main goals has always been to be original and exciting at the same time. I want to win and entertain the fans all at once. I believe I am on the cutting edge of the sport and the future is very bright.”

MacDonald first trained with the Toshido Fighting Arts Academy before joining up with TriStar after his loss to Condit. He is 12-1 in his career, with five knockout victories and six wins via submission.

By: Dana Becker