Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre talked up the prospect of a fight with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Both Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov seem to be retired from MMA. However, that doesn’t stop the fans, media and probably Dana White dreaming about a match-up between the two iconic figures.
St-Pierre last fought at UFC 217 in 2017, where he defeated Michael Bisping by technical submission to snatch the UFC middleweight title. This happened after a four year hiatus from the sport. ‘Rush’ stepped away from competition after an incredible 12-fight win streak that saw him recapture the UFC welterweight title and defend it against all comers.
After Nurmagomedov’s last fight, a technical submission over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last October, the Dagestani announced that his 29th fight, and 29th win, would be his last. ‘The Eagle’ said he would retire from the sport to fulfill a promise to his mother.
Despite Nurmagomedov’s insistence that he would not fight again, Dana White has pledged to change his mind. Many onlookers believe the only opponent with a chance of drawing Nurmagomedov back to the Octagon would be St-Pierre; a fighter Nurmagomedov’s late father dreamed of seeing his son competing against.
Recently St-Pierre appeared on Sportsnet’s Tim and Sid, where the subject of fighting Nurmagomedov came up.
“It freakin’ excites me man!” ??
– @GeorgesStPierre on the idea of fighting @TeamKhabib #UFC #TimandSid pic.twitter.com/iIQOdcrgYJ
— Tim and Sid (@timandsid) January 14, 2021
“It freaking excites me, man,” said St-Pierre (ht Adam Martin bjpenn.com) about the potential contest.
St-Pierre didn’t outright say the fight was in the works or that he would seriously entertain a return to competition. However, he did explain that, in order for the fight to become closer to reality both he and Nurmagomedov would have to agree on a weigh class for the fight.
“Khabib is bigger than me,” said St-Pierre. “He’s a better weight cutter than me, probably, and I’m older than he is, and that plays too. We need to know the terrain. It’s one of the principles of the art of war. I need to know if I fight in a place that he knows the terrain and I don’t, it’s an advantage for him. Right now it’s an advantage for him. I don’t have the structure to train, and he does. So there needs to compromise on both sides to make the fight happen.”