Morning Report: Georges St-Pierre believes Rory MacDonald is ready for title shot, leaning towards Johny Hendricks to beat Robbie Lawler

After subtly letting the UFC and Dana White know he's interested in a welterweight title shot, Rory MacDonald picked up an unsurprising endorsement this week from former champion Georges St-Pierre. Speaking with Sportsnet, St-Pierre says it's only a matter of time before his protégé takes over the 170-pound division.

"I think so. I think he is [ready]. I think Rory will be champion soon. His loss to [Robbie] Lawler made him much better, I believe. I believe he's got all the tools to be champion and I think he will."

Before that can happen, the two men headlining UFC 171 in Dallas, Texas will have a chance to show why the 24-year-old Canadian shouldn't hold his breath. As for the title's most recent holder, St-Pierre says Johny Hendricks has what it takes to claim it over Robbie Lawler on Mar. 15.

"I'm not going to go to the fight because I'm taking a break right now, but I'm going to watch it. They both have the power to knock each other out standing up. I see Johny as having an advantage in the wrestling and grappling departments, because of his experience.

"They're both southpaws but it'll be interesting. Sometimes we can speculate where the fight will go and everything, but it all comes down to the night of the fight. You never know what's going to happen 100 percent. You don't know what's going to happen in each guy's life. Sometimes things can affect a fight. You don't know. You have to go behind the scenes and see but we'll find all that out the night of the fight."

5 MUST-READ STORIES

Release? Nate Diaz has very publicly stated he's ready to move on from the UFC.

Contender. Daniel Cormier says he wants either a No. 1 contendership bout or a title shot.

Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas covers a Rousey vs. McMann recap, ESPN's piece on TRT, Gilbert Melendez re-signing with UFC and more in this week's live chat.

TRT. Travis Browne, despite having low levels of testosterone himself, believes the treatment is cheating.

China. Mark Fischer, the head of the UFC's Asian division, says the company is looking for MMA's Yao Ming.

MEDIA STEW

Dana White talking Gilbert Melendez, TRT and Cyborg.

Lyoto Machida talking Jacare, Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.

Quinton Jackson weighs pro and cons of UFC vs. Bellator.

Pre-fight with Dustin Jacoby for GLORY 14.

Andreas Kraniotakes - Things You Own, End Up Owning You.

Great introspective stuff from Paul Buentello.

Long watches.

MMA 3 Way: UFC Macau (TUF China Finale) & Bellator 110

TWEETS

Welp.

You can not believe the training @SpiderAnderson is doing already! If I didn't c it I wouldn't believe it!!!

— Dana White (@danawhite) February 26, 2014

Motivação ela impulsão para realizações de sonhos hoje perdi um pouco da minha. pic.twitter.com/Cp8yaId9E8

— Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson) February 27, 2014

@shaunalshatti @SpiderAnderson "Motivation is the drive for achievement of dreams. I lost some of my today."

— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) February 27, 2014

Huh.

@ufc @danawhite I would like to request to be released from the @ufc Its time for me to be on my way .. ?

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) February 26, 2014

Get well soon.

Balance/core strength...another day at Rehabbing the quad back to full strength till I'm back in the... http://t.co/crUufcwiV5

— Dominick Cruz (@TheDomin8r) February 26, 2014

Coming back strong & real soon trust me!! @ufc @grapplefit @ericdelfierro @deanamasinger... http://t.co/zgt4wRYqwY

— Ross Pearson (@RossTheRealDeal) February 26, 2014

A man of his word.

A little late but here we go!!!! @GeorgesStPierre pic.twitter.com/VpbSRGoKQb

— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) February 26, 2014

Excited.

Excited to be a coach for #tuf20 and even more for getting another shot at @ufc title. Thank u all! pic.twitter.com/rhQgfHFiB9

— Gilbert Melendez (@GilbertMelendez) February 26, 2014

For exterminators, too.

Show up. Kill it. Go home #Mentality

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) February 26, 2014

RIP.

R.i.P Ramon Dekker we miss you brother. Cant believe its been almost 1 year ago that we lost you.

— gokhan saki (@gokhantherebel) February 27, 2014

Ramon 'The Diamond' Dekkers 4-09-1969 - 2-27-2013 http://t.co/LHSNz0VYyV

— Dustin Jacoby (@dustinjacobyDJ) February 27, 2014

Leave the shoes, bring back the rug.

The only shoes I found that fit me @UFC_Asia pic.twitter.com/WCyhL5rsOv

— Shawn Jordan (@savageshawn) February 27, 2014

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Feb. 26 2014)

TJ Dillashaw vs. Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 173

Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta at UFC 173

Sean Soriano out, Mike Brown vs. Estevan Payan at UFC on FOX 11

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via Da Headbanger.

Everything You NEED to Know About TUF China Finale Prelims

I'm not going to lie... you would probably be best served to sleep through these prelims as there isn't a whole lot on the line here. Only two of the eight fighters featured have UFC experience and there is a grand total of two victories between them. Normally I would try to convince you to watch for a prospect who could set the UFC on fire in a year or two... but I don't think any of these guys will do that.

Nonetheless, I'm sure that there are some of you (likely numbering in the single digits) who will watch and others who simply want an idea of what to expect for fantasy purposes. I get it. Rather than try to prop the prelims up after I just tore them down, I'm a gonna just get down to the nitty gritty and tell you what you can expect.

Yui Chul Nam (17-4-1) vs. Kazuki Tokudome (12-4-1), Lightweight

Its a battle of Asian superiority as representatives from South Korea (Nam) and Japan (Tokudome) square off in what will be an aggressive affair.

...

Check out the rest of the post here.

Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.