Georges St-Pierre

Both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre pushed for a fight between the stars, and for months, Dana White said the bout was a no-go. But, now the UFC President has said the fight could actually happen…

St-Pierre’s calls for a fight with Khabib and eventual retirement

After St-Pierre won the UFC’s middleweight title back in 2017, and ended up vacating it due to a battle with ulcerative colitis, he relayed a fight with Nurmagomedov would get him back in the cage. The undefeated lightweight champ also repeatedly said he wanted to face GSP.

But, for months, White said the fight couldn’t happen, since St-Pierre couldn’t commit to defending the lightweight title moving forward (and he pointed to what happened with St-Pierre and the 185 belt). GSP eventually retired,  and the former champ has said that a key reason he did so, was because the UFC wasn’t on board with the Khabib fight.

White’s most recent comments

Well, following Nurmagomedov’s win at UFC 242, White acknowledged that a fight with GSP could happen. But, since White said it somewhat in passing, the comment didn’t gain too much traction.

But, this week, TMZ Sports caught up with White, and while discussing what’s going to be next for Khabib he said this (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“Tony Ferguson is the fight that needs to happen,” White said. “We’ve tried to do it four other times, so hopefully we can get it done this time. But that’s the fight that makes sense.

“(The fight with Georges St-Pierre) can happen, too. We’ll see what happens with Tony. Tony’s had opportunities before that he didn’t take, so if he doesn’t, I would be interested in talking about GSP.”

So this is extremely interesting to hear, and you can’t help but wonder if Khabib’s new levels of superstar fame is a big reason why. In other words, if Nurmagomedov does defeat Tony Ferguson, and he demands a fight with GSP, would the UFC really say no? To what would be one of the biggest fights in UFC history?

Now, it should be noted that recently St-Pierre said he’s moved on with his life and past fighting Khabib. Would he change his mind, however, if the match-up was tabled? If it’s not too far into 2020, you would think (hope) the answer is yes.

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