Rory MacDonald and Stephen Thompson speak ahead of titanic clash at UFC Ottawa

CANADIAN Rory MacDonald and American Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson will do battle on Saturday night in a bid to become the next man in line for the UFC’s welterweight title.

The duo will face off in the Octagon on Saturday night in Ottawa knowing they stand one good win away from booking their place in a bout against the winner of the Robbie Lawler v Tyron Woodley fight that’s scheduled for UFC 201.

The introverted MacDonald is a man of few words during fight week, and speaking as the fighters checked in at the fighter hotel ahead of the bout, he kept his cards close to his chest when quizzed about the importance of the bout.

“I feel like I’ve trained as best as I can to prepare for his style,” he said.

“He had a very good performance against Hendricks.

“His win streak is very impressive. It’s impressive to do something like that in the UFC.”

Thompson's win streak - across six fights - culminated in his most recent performance, a blistering one-round demolition of former champion Johny Hendricks.

And Thompson, who coaches kids' karate classes at his family dojo between UFC fights, says he's all set to take the biggest step of his career on Saturday night.

"It’s an important fight for me," he said.

"Me beating the number one contender and someone who’s been in the top of the game for a long time, it will be set in stone that I deserve the title shot.

It's arguable that both MacDonald and Thompson should be in a title fight already.

MacDonald's all-out war with Lawler at UFC 189 will live long in the memory not just as the fight of 2015, but one of the greatest title fights in UFC history.

It's a fight that has left MacDonald feeling he has unfinished business with the current champ - he wants a trilogy fight.

"I’d like to fight Lawler (again) because I’ve lost to him twice."

And Thompson's demolition of Hendricks, who took current champ Robbie Lawler the distance twice, winning once, was emphatic enough to justify his call for a title shot.

"Yes, I was hoping for a title shot," Thompson admitted.

"But sometimes you have to prove to the fans and the UFC that you deserve that title shot, so you may have to fight one more time."

That fight is against MacDonald, whose cold-eyed approach to fights has helped him win a legion of fans back in his native Canada, where he's seen as the next best hope for a UFC champion since the great Georges St-Pierre.

And when asked how he saw the fight panning out, 'The Red King' dispensed with the technical analysis and cut straight to the chase.

"I predict a submission or KO win for me."

Thompson was a little more open, explaining that being relaxed and in the moment will be crucial to his chances of success on fight night.

"I don’t like looking for the knockout," he said.

"If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. My goal is to go out there and have fun.

"Obviously I think I have the skills to win. I just have to perform the way I know I can on Saturday.

"I’m expecting five rounds of war, a very exciting fight.

"You’ll never know what to expect and you’ll see the entire arsenal of Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson."