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As the great Rick Pitino once said, Larry Bird Georges St-Pierre is not walking through that door.
But if he does, Kamaru Usman would like to have a word. Or rather, a fight, as the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion of the world would prefer his next title defense come against “Rush.”
If he had a say in the matter, of course.
“Honestly, I’m an equal opportunity guy. I don’t really care who it is. If I had to choose, of course I wants Georges [St-Pierre],” Usman told TMZ Sports recently via MMA Fighting. “I want GSP. One more win and I tie him for most consecutive wins [in the welterweight division] and how sweet would that be to actually get that win off of him?”
Of course, St-Pierre doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to return to action. If and when he ever does decide to step foot back in the Octagon, his heart is set on a Lightweight title fight against division champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Still, the heart wants what it wants and Kamaru would lobby for a “GSP” showdown if the chance arises.
“That would be an extremely exciting fight because I think we are the two hybrids of the welterweight division. Since the welterweight division has been going on, I think he and I are the two hybrids,” he added.
“When he came on the scene, he could do it all – systematically break guys down to make the fight look easy. I just think that I’m a better level of that. I’ve got the power, I’ve got the cardio, I’ve got the strength, I’ve got the speed. So I think it’s a big, big, big fight, and all due respect to Georges, but I think I finish him.”
Interestingly enough, Usman isn’t too high on fighting Jorge Masvidal. Furthermore, it seems Team “Gamebred” is more focused on trying to score a fight against Nick Diaz or Conor McGregor, leaving other contenders the chance to slide in to a title fight.
Enter Leon Edwards, the top 170-pound contender who wasn’t too impressed with Usman’s striking at UFC 245, where he and fellow wrestler, Colby Covington, surprised fight fans with a 25-minute standup war (see it).
Should Jorge pass up a chance to face Kamaru and the mixed martial arts (MMA) gods don’t bless “The Nigerian Nightmare” with a St-Pierre bout, then “Rocky” could be next in line.