Rory MacDonald filling his own shoes with tough fight against Stephen Thompson at Fight Night in Ottawa

When Georges St-Pierre (25-2-0), one of MMA's first true superstars, walked away from his sport, it left quite a void in the UFC. Brock Lesnar had already retired due to health concerns and the surprise dethroning of Anderson Silva left the organization with one big question: Who will take the UFC torch and run with it?

Sure, Dana White and the Fertita brothers have done quite well since with the likes of Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey and more recently the enigmatic, self-promoting hype machine that is Conor McGregor. It would seem as though the UFC torch has been successfully passed. McGregor's PPV numbers certainly suggest so, as do Ronda Rousey's and Jon Jones'. But has GSP's Canadian MMA torch been passed?

If you ask an MMA fan north of the border, the answer will be a resounding no. The heir to the three-time Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year was supposed to be B.C.'s Rory MacDonald (18-3-0). Even the former welterweight champion himself considered MacDonald the next big thing.

There was so much hype behind MacDonald at the time that talks of the Tristar teammates eventually fighting for UFC gold became the number one topic. Yet everytime that discussion came up, both expressed zero interest in facing off inside the octagon, as many training partners have done.

Let's fast-forward to today: It's been nearly two-and-a-half-years since GSP announced his unofficial retirement but the unofficial tag is seeming more and more like an official one. So, what has MacDonald - Canada's next big MMA star - done in this time? Well, quite a bit actually.

Prior to GSP taking the stage in his final UFC bout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, MacDonald put his five-fight win streak on the line against current UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler for the number one contender spot. It was a three-round war that ultimately ended in a split decision loss to the Canadian. Since then, MacDonald strung together a three-fight win streak at the expense of some top-tier welterweights. He displayed his jiu jitsu defense against sixth ranked Demian Maia, completely shut down third ranked Tyron Woodley and finished the last Strikeforce welterweight champion, 10th ranked Tarec Saffiedine via third round TKO.

Before we move on, let's take a look at the overall picture here of the top ranked UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald: He made his pro debut at the age of 16 and jumped up to the biggest MMA promotion before his 21st birthday. MacDonald went undefeated at 10-0 before taking a big step up in competition against former interim UFC welterweight champion and WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit. He was well on his way to his 11th straight victory but gassed out, suffering his first career loss by TKO stoppage against the veteran. He hadn't suffered his second career defeat until the split decision loss to Lawler three years later.

Less than two years later, the two squared off once again at UFC 189, but this time for the 170 lbs title. If you haven't seen the "Fight of the Year" candidate, it's a must-see. According to the judges' scorecards, MacDonald was winning the fight heading into the fifth and final round. It appeared as though he was finally going to grab that torch his fellow Canadian held onto for so many years. But a broken nose halted all of that.

MacDonald hasn't fought since then while Lawler went on to successfully defend his title once more against Carlos Condit via split decision in another five-round war at UFC 195.

When you break it down, MacDonald has only lost to the best of the best. He hasn't staken claim to the welterweight throne like many thought he would when GSP left the sport, but he has definitely come close. Only Lawler, whom he was outscoring, stood in the way. That is until now.

The UFC announced on March 4 at the "Unstoppable" press conference that the Canadian will be facing Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson (12-1-0) on June 18 at UFC Fight Night in Ottawa.

Thompson jumped all the way up to second rank thanks to his impressive first-round TKO of former champion Johnny Hendricks back in early February. Finishing Hendricks is no joke. Not even Lawler was able to accomplish that and he fought Hendricks twice, both for UFC gold.

Thompson's pedigree includes a fifth degree black belt in Tetsushin Ryu Kempo Karate, a first degree in Tetsushin Ryu Jujitsu, a Purple belt in RCJ Machado Jiu-jitsu, a 57-0 kickboxing record and is a five-time world champion kickboxer. Yes, MacDonald has been in wars, fighting against top notch competitors, but Thompson may be the most accomplished striker he will have ever faced.

A loss here could derail MacDonald's run at the title. A win will likely give him a third shot at Robbie Lawler and a second at the belt.

To say that MacDonald has yet to reach his potential may be true, as he is just 26 years old. But to suggest that he has yet to fill GSP's shoes may not necessarily be fair. MMA is still a relatively new sport that is constantly evolving and the level of competition just is not what it used to be when GSP reigned supreme. Like every sport, there are always younger and hungrier athletes with something new to showcase, trying to climb to the top.

Could St-Pierre dominate today's generation of fighters the way he did at his prime? Who knows. He did what he did in his time and nothing should be taken away from that, just as Rory MacDonald is following his own path against a new breed of mixed martial artists. He may not be that typical, extremely nice Canadian that GSP was, but he shouldn't have to be. Rory MacDonald isn't trying to fill anybody's shoes. Not even his mentor's. His focus is on the UFC welterweight title and right now, Stephen Thompson stands in the way of that.