Georges St-Pierre (GSP) was not convinced that the duel against Khabib Nurmagomedov could be approved by the UFC because of Khabib’s status as the most phenomenal fighter at the moment.
St-Pierre had announced his retirement from the MMA world in early 2019. A few months earlier, St-Pierre had been declared healed of a prolonged injury but had not yet determined the next opponent. The GSP saw no chance of facing Khabib and there were no more challenges left so he decided to resign.
But after winning over Dustin Poirier, Khabib stated that he was ready to face St-Pierre if the GSP was willing to compete in the lightweight class. In addition, UFC President Dana White has stated that he opened up opportunities for the fight.
Although there is already a green light from Khabib and UFC, St-Pierre still assesses the duel between him and Khabib will not be easily carried out. Because, St-Pierre stated that if he returned to fight, then it was only for a duel against Khabib, without wanting to be bound by a contract for another fight.
“My agent explained that Khabib represented a large investment for the UFC. He reached different levels, ranging from countries in the Middle East and Muslim countries idolizing himself. He was an icon.”
“Imagine, they have invested a lot of money to promote a big match between me and Khabib, then I won the fight. After that I came out. I was not interested in signing a contract against Khabib with the agreement I had to fight again with other challengers,” said St-Pierre in an interview with DAZN, quoted from MMA Weekly.
Khabib himself has long been curious about the duel of GSP opponents. St-Pierre retires with an unbeaten record in the last 13 duels. The last time GSP was defeated was Matt Serra’s opponent in 2007.
After that moment, St-Pierre continued to win until 2013 and then won again when he came back in 2017. Dana White was disappointed because St-Pierre was seen breaking the promise to actively fight after winning against Michael Bisping in 2017.
