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Dagestan vs. Montreal? “That can happen too,” White said about Nurmagomedov fighting St-Pierre.
UFC President Dana White is a fight promoter, first and foremost, which means every word from his mouth is intended to sell, persuade, or deflect, in the same way that every dumb, manufactured headline of mine is intended to generate clicks.
It’s how the world works, and I think (hope?) we’ve all accepted it at this point.
With that in mind, I’m not sure what’s behind this latest revelation that White is, in fact, considering a Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Georges St-Pierre “super fight” after previously slamming the door on the French-Canadian’s lofty quest for a lightweight title.
Maybe “Rush” is coming out of retirement (yet again) or perhaps the Conor McGregor back-up plan fell through as a contingency for the oft-maligned Tony Ferguson, who is expected to fly with “The Eagle” at some point in early 2020.
“Tony Ferguson is the fight that needs to happen,” White told TMZ Sports. “We’ve tried to do it four other times, so hopefully we can get it done this time. But that’s the fight that makes sense. We’ll see what happens with Tony. Tony’s had opportunities before that he didn’t take, so if he doesn’t, then I would be interested in talking about ‘GSP.’”
St-Pierre held the welterweight title for several years before walking away from combat sports in late 2013, but reemerged at UFC 217 to thump Michael Bisping and capture the middleweight crown — which he promptly vacated for myriad health reasons.
One of many reasons behind this stipulation.
This really isn’t a conversation worth having, at least not in any greater detail, until we know what’s happening with Ferguson, the rightful challenger to Nurmagomedov’s 155-pound throne. In addition, the rapidly-shrinking St-Pierre would have to first prove he can hit the lightweight limit.
Let’s just hope “politics” don’t get in the way.