A grappling match between Georges St-Pierre and Tony Ferguson at Submission Underground was very close to happening.
Earlier this month, Ferguson hinted on social media about competing against St-Pierre at Submission Underground as many began to wonder if there were any legs to the potential matchup.
It turns out it was very real as Submission Underground founder Chael Sonnen provided an update on where things stood with regard to Ferguson.
“We tried to make a match with you versus Georges St-Pierre,” Sonnen told Ferguson in a recent video. “You accepted in about a half of a second. Georges St-Pierre accepted and found out he couldn’t get out of Canada.
“And you said, ‘fine, give me Jordan Burroughs and make it a freestyle wrestling match.” You accepted, matter of fact, it was your idea. To update you on that, Jordan passed on the match so I think that’s a compliment to you.”
Ferguson paid respect to Burroughs despite the latter turning the match down and asked Sonnen to keep him in mind for any future grappling matches as he loves the competition.
It would have certainly been intriguing to see Ferguson battle St-Pierre or even Burroughs in an exhibition match. That said, most fans would still prefer to see “El Cucuy” inside the Octagon, especially with the lightweight title now being vacant.
Ferguson is coming off a fifth-round TKO defeat to Justin Gaethje in May. He was previously undefeated in 12 fights leading up to that setback.
Would you have liked to have seen St-Pierre and Ferguson grapple?