Firas Zahabi believes Georges St-Pierre vs. Conor McGregor would be ‘the biggest fight in history’.
The historic boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA superstar Conor McGregor is etched into the history books as one of the biggest fights ever, but MMA coach Firas Zahabi believes an MMA spectacle between McGregor and Georges St-Pierre would be crowned ‘the biggest fight’ of all time.
Speaking to FightHub TV in a recent interview, St-Pierre’s long-time coach Zahabi would ‘love’ to see ‘Rush’ and ‘The Notorious’ lock horns in the Octagon, although he doesn’t think it will ever happen.
“[They’re] two huge names,” Zahabi said, per MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew. “I would love the fight to happen. I don’t think it’s gonna happen. I think the size difference and Conor’s gotta defend the belt sooner or later. They can’t fight for a middleweight title, that would be considered crazy”.
St-Pierre returned to the sport at UFC 217 after a four-year layoff and choked out Michael Bisping to win the middleweight title in his divisional debut. Shortly after winning gold, however, the 36-year-old relinquished the belt after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a medical condition that affects the inner lining of the colon.
Three months on and St-Pierre is feeling much better, although the Canadian fan favorite isn’t sure if he’ll return to the sport.
Zahabi, who heads the world renowned Tristar Gym in Montreal, Canada, says if he was a UFC matchmaker he would do everything in his power to book St-Pierre vs. McGregor as soon as possible.
“I think it would just be a megafight that the fans want to see,” he said. “It would just be a super-megafight that everybody in the world would want to see. I think it would be a bigger fight than Mayweather-McGregor. I think it would be the biggest fight in history and everybody would for sure want to see it. I don’t make the fights, but if I did, that would be one I’d make.”
St-Pierre, a former two-division UFC champion (welterweight and middleweight), knows a fight with McGregor would generate lots of money and pay-per-view revenue but isn’t sure beating the Irishman immortalises his legacy.
“I mean, money-wise, for people who are not huge fans of MMA, they know who Conor McGregor is. He’s the main guy,” St-Pierre said in a recent interview. “He’s the guy who brought the sport to a different level. He’s, I would say, the most charismatic guy. He sells, the biggest seller in the sport. But talk about legacy. If I come back for legacy, that’s what interests me the most, more than the money.”
Although the fight is unlikely take place, Zahabi can’t help but theorize about the match-up and believes GSP has the experience and skillset to neutralize McGregor’s vaunted left hand.
“Listen, Georges is fully aware of the karate stuff and Taekwondo ranges and the distances McGregor uses,” Zahabi said. “He grew up in that. McGregor’s very good at keeping that distance and when you cross the distance, he punches you. Georges understands that game so well plus Georges is much more schooled in wrestling and jiu-jitsu, so I’ve got to put it all on Georges side.
“McGregor has that deadly, accurate left, I’ll give him that. He has a better cross than Georges, definitely, but Georges is too smart, too intelligent, too calculated. It’s highly unlikely he will get hit with it. Not impossible, just highly unlikely.”
McGregor, 29, is expected to be stripped of his lightweight title when Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov make weight for their highly anticipated championship showdown at UFC 223 on April 7.