who came in averaging 10.6 points and is the Tar Heels second-leading

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." Fake Shoes Free Shipping . But when it was all over they had wasted another lead, seen another pitcher flame out on the mound and lost their fourth straight at home. Fake Nike Shoes . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. https://www.fakeshoes.net/ . Catch all the action on TSN2 and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. San Antonio took the series lead Monday night with a 122-105 home victory in Game 1. The Spurs used a balanced scoring attack and clamped down defensively late in the third quarter to claim the win. Replica Shoes . A last-minute leveler ensured the two-time defending champion remained nine points ahead of Roma, which drew 0-0 at bitter rival Lazio in the capital derby. Fake Jordan . After Andrew Romine served up two monster home runs in the inning, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he thought Romine was one of the bright spots on the night, showing just how bad the series opener against the last-place Minnesota Twins went for the Tigers.SAN ANTONIO -- North Carolina had 1.6 seconds to score and avoid another early NCAA tournament exit, but instead spent that precious time trying to call timeout. A fittingly frustrating end to a frustrating Tar Heels season. With coach Roy Williams jumping and gesticulating for a timeout, the No. 6 seed Tar Heels inbounded the ball to Nate Britt who dribbled past midcourt as time expired, ousting them in the third round for a second consecutive season in a 85-83 loss to Iowa State on Sunday. Officials huddled for several minutes reviewing the clock on replays before confirming that the game was over. Williams -- who collapsed his hands on his knees as Britt surged toward him -- then shook Iowa State coach Fred Hoibergs hand as North Carolina began absorbing the heartbreaker. "We made some mistakes. We practice all the time that situation for five guys to be calling timeout, and Im supposed to be calling timeout, and I was calling timeout," Williams said. "Referees didnt recognize it. We practice those scenarios, so we made mistakes. " Iowa States DeAndre Kane did exactly as his coach had instructed, driving for a layup with 1.6 seconds left that gave the Cyclones the lead. His twisting shot put Iowa State in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. "Hes been our Mariano Rivera. Hes been our closer all throughout this season," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. Now the No. 3 seed Cyclones (28-7) are headed to the home of the former Yankees star, New York City, where they will play No. 7 seed Connecticut in the East Regional semifinals next week. The No. 6 seed Tar Heels (24-10) are gone in the NCAA tournaments opening weekend for the first time in consecutive seasons under Williams, who choked back tears following the end of his 10th season in Chapel Hill. "Lets not anybody lay it on the officials or anything like that. We didnt call the timeout with 1.6 seconds to play," Williams said. Britt said he thought North Carolina got the timeout before the buzzer. "When I looked up at the clock I saw one-point-something time left," he said. "I saw staff screaming and trying to call timeout." Kane finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. It was just the kind of big game the Cyclones needed without forward Georges Niang, who broke his foot in Fridays win against North Carolina Central.dddddddddddd The 6-foot-7 sophomore sat on the bench wearing a bulky boot while the Cyclones tried their best without their third-leading scorer and tallest starter. Kane said the last possession called for him to attack the basket, unless North Carolina defenders swarmed him as he penetrated. "But nobody helped, and I made an acrobatic shot and it went in," Kane said. Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 19 points and Kennedy Meeks had 15 points and 13 rebounds. But North Carolina played nearly the entire game without forward Brice Johnson, who sprained ankle in the opening minutes. The team said X-rays were negative, but the Tar Heels third-leading scorer never returned. The Tar Heels crave a fast pace, and -- after dealing with the grind-it-out style of recent opponents -- Williams and Paige had spoken of relishing the chance to finally hit the gas against the similarly up-tempo Cyclones. But this was no track meet. Undersized Iowa State bottled up the Tar Heels before they could run and bombarded them with 3-pointers (12 of 26) instead of quick baskets. The first dunk came from Kane, not the high-flying Tar Heels, and not until 12 minutes into the game after a handful of bungled North Carolina fast breaks. Niangs injury left Hoiberg with a tough choice: go small with his best remaining five or a put a little-used big man in place of his star sophomore. He opted for size over another shooter, giving 6-foot-8 forward Daniel Edozie his first career start. Edozie missed the only two shots he tried and grabbed four rebounds. But Johnsons bum ankle reduced North Carolinas size advantage. Johnson, who came in averaging 10.6 points and is the Tar Heels second-leading rebounder, tumbled to the floor with North Carolina up 12-7. He sat on the bench before hobbling to the locker room. Coincidental or not, the Cyclones got hot the moment Johnson left the game. They shook off a 1-for-10 start from the floor and erased a seven-point deficit in less than 1 1/2 minutes. After that, neither team led by more than single digits. "Once Georges got injured people didnt think that we had enough to pull out this win," forward Dustin Hogue said. "This goes to show that we have depth and we have heart. With enough heart you can beat anybody." ' ' '