Manager Believes GSP Fight Could End Khabib’s Retirement

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has repeatedly shot down the possibility of a rematch between the lightweight champ and Conor McGregor. But, Abdelaziz does believes that if Georges St-Pierre is open to the bout, a fight with the legend could, maybe, bring Khabib back to the cage.

Abdelaziz says a fight with GSP would get Khabib “up”

Ever since McGregor was submitted by Khabib in 2018, in what was one of the biggest fights ever, there’s been talk about a rematch.

Before Nurmagomedov retired this past October, however, he said he wasn’t interested in fighting McGregor again. He did say, before hanging up the gloves, that he would be down to fight the legend St-Pierre, since it would build his legacy.

Thus, this could be a big reason why Abdelaziz recently told TMZ this (quotes visa SCMP.com).

“I have to respect him, I have to respect his wishes. He accomplished everything you need to accomplish in this sport.

Beating Conor McGregor [again], does it mean anything? I don’t know. It means a lot for the fans. Financially it’s a huge fight. But you know Khabib, it’s hard to persuade him financially.”

“Honestly, I think if Georges St-Pierre is serious about coming back to fight, I could see it happening. That would get Khabib up,” Abdelaziz said.

“But he beat the [expletive] out of Conor, he did everything he wanted to do.

He beat him in the striking department, he beat him in the wrestling department, the grappling department. He broke his soul, he took his will.”

Abdelaziz also reported that if Khabib does decided to end his retirement, Dana White will be the person to do it.

“I believe in Dana White – if anyone can get it done, it’s Dana White.

These two guys Dana and Khabib, they really love each other, they respect each other, Dana’s really good about getting people to do things. But also Dana is very respectful for peoples’ wishes.

Thoughts?

Abdelaziz isn’t the only person to say that money alone, likely won’t get Khabib back and that a fight with GSP might.

Convincing St-Pierre to come back, however, isn’t a given. In the past he repeatedly said he wanted to fight Khabib. But, more recently he’s said it would need to be at a catch-weight and it’s hard to imagine White being on board with that.