Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre recently toured Australia to promote Fast Track Events.
During his time there, St-Pierre conducted an interview with Submission Radio and discussed the idea of meeting the winner of Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov.
GSP also talked about rumors of a planned fight with Nate Diaz and more.
Check out highlights below:
On being in the main event for UFC 230 at MSG
“The last time they asked me (to fight), they asked me for fighting Nate Diaz in September, but I’m not ready in September, and not only am I not ready, I’m not very excited to fight Nate Diaz. I need to fight something that excites me.”
If November would be realistic for GSP to make
“November? Yeah. There’s also Toronto in December. So the thing is, what excites me is, what can I have to have to improve my legacy? What can I do to improve my legacy? That’s the number one. And also the money, but legacy is number one. Money is there. In terms of Nate Diaz, they asked me Nate Diaz. (Fighting) Nate Diaz (my) legacy is not really an improvement for me because people they see my as a winner already, and if I win they will say I look like a bully because I beat his older brother. In terms of money, yes, it’s going to be big money because Nate Diaz is a big name, but I need to fight a guy that will help me improve legacy, and money as well. I’m not… I’m at the point in my career now where I only have a few fights left.”
How many fights could GSP be around for? Two, three, four? For the next couple of years?
“I think so.”
“At 40 years old I’m done for sure.”
“I’m not going to fight in a cage at 40 years old. I’m gonna be a grown man, I’m gonna be past that no matter what happens.”
If Anderson Silva is a realistic opponent next for him
“Not right now. This fight was interesting at a certain point when I had a lot of contenders in my division and this fight, if it would have been made I wanted it to be made with extra performance drug testing, which UFC was not a fan about because they didn’t want VADA to be a part of it – before USADA was a part of it – and also a catch weight. That was my thing. Because as a fighter, you cannot cut, you know? It’s very hard if you’re an active fighter competing every few month to go up and then go down, and I didn’t want to do that. And I guess I wanted to do (the fight) with the extra testing. They didn’t have the testing at the time, and that’s why this fight also never happened. And at the time right now I don’t think it’s a good win-win situation for me because I have a lot more to lose than to win fighting right now against Anderson Silva.”
If GSP would be interested in fighting the winner of McGregor/Khabib next
“I would be interested in that fight. That’s a win-win situation. It’s a legacy upgrade and it’s good money. It’s gonna be a big fight. Yeah, however, I fought at 170, I relinquished the title and I fought at 185, I relinquished the title. I don’t think the UFC will let me fight for the title at 155. They will be afraid I’ll relinquish and I’ll leave the division in ruins again.”
If he needs the title to be on the line if he fought the winner of Khabib/Conor
“From my perspective it’s a very winning situation, for the UFC it’s a big risk for them. And like I said, I’m older. 155, I know Khabib, I’ve met Khabib and Khabib is actually bigger than me when he’s off-season. He’s a big guy.”
Thoughts on Khabib
“He’s a great fighter, but in terms of size, he walks around 195. Right now I’m less than 185. I’m 183, 185. I’ve always been like that, my natural fit weight. But yeah, 155, I think I could make it. I never tried it, I’m not a fan of big weight cut, but are they gonna let me do that? I don’t know. Is it going to be for, like you say… a title would be good for the legacy, but even if it’s not for the title it would be a big fight. It would still be a legacy (fight). Maybe not as much as if it will be for a title fight, but it’s still would be against a champion. We’ll see. I don’t know. We’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Official prediction on who wins between Conor and Khabib if he had to bet his house on it
“If I had to bet, If I had to put my house on it – (laughs) the biggest one – I would have to choose Khabib over Conor. Khabib never lost, he never lost, and Conor has lost before. He’s lost on the ground. He has a few losses and he lost on the ground. That’s where Khabib is good, that’s where Khabib is more competent. However, Khabib is sometimes a slow starter and he gets punched a lot (like in the Michael Johnson fight). Yes, he didn’t look good in the beginning of that fight. And it’s hard sometimes to close distance, he had a problem to close the distance. But once he’s got you in the clinch he’s very good. So, I believe the chance, the house goes in Khabib’s favor, maybe”