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SEATTLE – Canadian welterweight Rory (Ares) MacDonald, under fire in some quarters for the manner of his UFC win Saturday, has got a vote of confidence from champion Georges St-Pierre.

MacDonald (15-1) received criticism from UFC president Dana White and others for not taking the fight to Jake (The Juggernaut) Ellenberger en route to a comfortable victory via decision.

MacDonald and trainer Firas Zahabi, who also coaches St-Pierre, both said they executed their game plan against a dangerous counter-puncher. And that the onus was on Ellenberger to come out of his shell after MacDonald pulled ahead.

St-Pierre agreed.

“He shouldn’t care about the critics,” the champion said in a text Sunday to The Canadian Press. “You don’t brawl with a brawler.

“It was up to Ellenberger to open up and take more risk because he was losing and he didn’t. Rory fought a great fight and even made it look relatively easy.”

St-Pierre and MacDonald train together at Montreal’s Tristar Gym.

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