“For this sport, you have to be hungry. If you’re not hungry, if you don’t want this, you have to finish.”
UFC lightweight GOAT Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Georges St-Pierre lost his hunger to compete about a decade ago, claiming the fire went out as far back as 2013 when ‘Rush’ defended his welterweight title against Johny Hendricks.
Despite this, St-Pierre went on to beat Michael Bisping to capture the middleweight title and become a two-division champion, further cementing his legacy as one of the greatest fighters to ever step into the Octagon.
Khabib, who admits his own competitive fire went down during the last couple of years of his career, believes St-Pierre made the right decision to retire on top even if it meant losing out on a massive payday against ‘The Eagle’.
“When I was on top, when it was my prime time, it was not his prime time,” Nurmagomedov said on a recent episode of the Full Send podcast (h/t MMA News). “When did he finish? ’12, ’13? After four years he came back, fight only with Michael Bisping. Last, almost 10 years, I think his time is finished,” said Khabib. “My opinion is his prime time was like 2010, ’11, ’12, but ’13 it was not his time.”
Khabib continued: “Even when he fight Johny Hendricks. On this time, I feel he’s not enjoying (being) inside the cage. He’s not hungry anymore. I don’t know about his feeling, this is what I feel. For this sport, you have to be hungry. If you’re not hungry, if you don’t want this, you have to finish.”
Khabib and GSP are widely regarded as two of the greatest fighters in UFC history, with both men retiring on top and sailing off into the sunset with their legacies forever intact.