Bring the right amount of money, as well as the right opponent, and Georges St-Pierre may put everything else aside in his life to mount a mixed martial arts (MMA) comeback.
As his trainer Firas Zahabi declared on The MMA Hour, “Rush” won’t return for the cash, but rather for something fun and worth getting back into training mode.
While Firas briefly hinted at trying to put together a fight against Nate Diaz, it likely went out the window once UFC matchmakers started turning the wheels on a rematch between Diaz and Conor McGregor for UFC 200.
Interestingly enough, while “GSP” wasn’t at UFC 196 for McGregor vs. Diaz to hint at a return, Zahabi says things could have gotten interesting had McGregor — in victory — decided to call him out while inside the cage.
In fact, if Nate would have seized the moment after his monumental victory (see it), things could have really gotten crazy.
“If McGregor had won, he’s just a guy that stirs the pot like nobody else,” Zahabi said. “It could have been crazy if he called out Georges, it could have been crazy if Nate called out Georges. Anything could have been motivating for Georges, I think it could have happened. Nothing happened.”
BIG opportunity lost.
Still, Zahabi says he hasn’t had any conversations with Georges about returning to the Octagon — but is adamant St-Pierre is not yet retired and has a lot of fight left in him.
Finding the perfect fight, though, will be a tough challenge for UFC matchmakers, as Zahabi says Georges won’t drop everything in his busy life to return for something that doesn’t make sense.
As for the much more natural fight against current division king, Robbie Lawler, Firas isn’t sure if winning the title back and defending in over and over is something that motivates “Rush.”
After all, it was the pressure that being a champion brings that ultimately forced St-Pierre to go into his extended hiatus.