According to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, Georges St-Pierre made a last-ditch effort to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov earlier this month.
A fight between UFC greats Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov has been a rumored dream match for years now. Indeed, it was a rare occurrence where the combatants themselves fantasized about the match as much if not more than the fans. But before the bout could ever materialize, Nurmagomedov joined St-Pierre in the aisles of retirement.
Even though Khabib’s decision trailed St-Pierre’s by nearly two years, his retirement has seemed more set in stone, with The Eagle not wavering or entertaining any bout since officially hanging up his gloves.
Thus, with Khabib’s mind made up and both men officially retired, the marquee of “Khabib vs. St-Pierre” appears destined to only be booked in dreamland or EA Sports’ UFC 4. Nonetheless, according to Nurmagomedov’s manager, St-Pierre made one final stab at getting the fight done recently.
“I’m gonna break some news here. 10 days ago, Dana White called me. And he said, Georges St-Pierre, he said he’ll fight Khabib, non-title fight, 165 pounds…” Abdelaziz said on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast last week. “We’ve been waiting for Georges four or five years: ‘I’m coming; I’m not coming.’
“At the end of the day, the UFC wants to make him fight (at) lightweight, he (wants) to do it (at) welterweight. Khabib was the lightweight champion. But now, he said, ‘Hey, Khabib is retired, I’m retired, what about coming back and fight Khabib now?’”
Based on Abdelaziz’s version of events, it was Dana White who presented this information to him, which could suggest that White would be interested in a Khabib/St-Pierre catchweight fight now. Then again, given how persistent White was in persuading Nurmagomedov to fight one more time, he’d probably be open to just about anything and anyone if it puts The Eagle back in the cage.
Ultimately, Abdelaziz says that Khabib’s retirement decision is final out of respect to the promise given to his mother, and the outspoken manager believes St-Pierre is fortunate this is the case.
“They both have the same game, but Khabib is much younger, more ferocious,” Abdelaziz said. “And I don’t think it would be even a fair fight.”
St-Pierre just turned 40 last week, which may have played a part in the welterweight legend making a final Hail Mary at a fight against Khabib before it’s too late. Abdelaziz believes a fight against Kamaru Usman would make more sense for St-Pierre due to the fact that Usman has been every bit the “invincible fighter” St-Pierre praises Khabib as being, plus Usman and St-Pierre have both competed in the same weight class throughout their careers.
