Georges St-Pierre Sounds Open to Fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov
George St-Pierre sounds like he could be lured back to the UFC for one more big fight. On the day the company announced a blockbuster main event for UFC 254 in October, St-Pierre seemed to hint he'd be willing to face the potential winner in what would could be an enormous fight.
UFC 254 will be headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. Nurmagomedov (28-0) holds the regular belt, while Gaethje (22-2) won the interim version in a bout against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in May.
The 39-year-old St-Pierre hinted to ESPN's Ariel Helwani that he might be interested in a fight with Nurmagomedov if he beats Gaethje:
I asked Georges St-Pierre earlier today what he thought of Dana White now being open to Khabib Nurmagomedov fighting him in the future. Here’s what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/20Mqvr37Wq
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 28, 2020
And UFC president Dana White seems on board with the idea as well:
"He's been great to the company, he's been great for the sport... I would do anything Khabib wanted to do."@danawhite says he would consider @TeamKhabib's wishes for his final fight, including a potential bout with @GeorgesStPierre. (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/pqre0cWiqS
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 28, 2020
There have long been rumblings that St-Pierre and Nurmagomedov have wanted to fight each other, and if Khabib beats Gaethje it may happen. He'd be 29-0 and the Russian superstar has hinted he wants to retire after his 30th fight. Going out with a battle against one of the greatest to ever do it would be a heck of a way to finish his career.
St-Pierre returned to the UFC after a four-year retirement in November of 2017, as he fought Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 217. He won via submission in the third round to take the belt. He later vacated the title and returned to retirement after a battle with ulcerative colitis. That appeared to end a storied career that included a 26-2 record, UFC titles in two divisions, 13 wins in title fights and a 13-fight win streak to end it. But maybe he could be lured back again.
Nurmagomedov called GSP out for a fight after UFC 223 in April of 2018, but the 39-year-old Canadian hadn't recovered from his bout with colitis. Now he claims to be fully healthy.
Khabib should enter his much-anticipated showdown with Gaethje as a heavy favorite, but it will have been more than a year since his previous fight. He beat Dustin Poirier via submission at UFC 242 in September of 2019, and his previous fight was his infamous win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October of 2018. So this will only be his second fight in two years.
That said, if he can get past the hard-hitting Gaethje, a date with St-Pierre could be the stuff dreams are made of. Not only would it be wildly-lucrative for everyone involved, it could also be the most anticipated fight in MMA history.
Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see it.