Former two-weight UFC champion, Georges St-Pierre has revealed the promotion had approached him with a potential fight against Hall of Fame star and former lightweight kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2020, ultimately to no avail – however, it came as a bout he believes he would have won.
St-Pierre, a former undisputed welterweight and middleweight titleholder under the banner of the promotion, called time on his professional career back in 2019, having landed the 185-pound title two years prior in a return to the Octagon in a submission win over Michael Bisping.
And as for Nurmagomedov, the former lightweight champion also ended his illustrious career back in 2020, successfully unifying the divisional crowns with a spectacular second round triangle choke submission win over then-interim champion, Justin Gaethje.
Forever linked with a superifhgt clash against Nurmagomedov since his retirement, St-Pierre – a fellow Hall of Fame inductee to boot, claimed the promotion had fielded a potential fight to himself and the Russian, fruitlessly, however.
Georges St-Pierre talks failed Khabib Nurmagomedov fight
Breaking down a potential fight the undefeated Sambo specialist, St-Pierre claimed he would have beaten Nurmagomedov if they actually fought each other.
“I think Khabib (Nurmagomedov) could have beat me, I’m not saying I could beat Khabib all the time,” Georges St-Pierre said during an appearance on the Pound-4-Pound podcast. “I was confident enough to take that fight that I was thinking that if I take that fight, I’m going to beat him that day at that particular place, that doesn’t mean I will beat him all the time. But I was confident – maybe I’m wrong.”
“I think I would have beat him because if he would have come to put pressure on me, I would have put him down,” Georges St-Pierre explained. “I would have the confidence to try to go for it. …I think that I would have maybe been the first guy that he fought or one of the only guys that would have tried to put him down, and I’ve put down everybody that I’ve fought.”
Prior to St-Pierre’s claims about Nurmagomedov this week, the Russian’s former head coach, Javier Mendez revealed that in his humble opinion, he viewed the former lightweight champion as the most “dangerous’ fighter to ever step foot inside the Octagon.
Who would have won a superfight: Georges St-Pierre or Khabib Nurmagomedov?