Georges St.Pierre says UFC was afraid to book his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov

G. St-Pierre (right) could face K. Nurmagomedov (left). Photo: Montage SL/MMA Press

Without a shadow of a doubt, many MMA fans still dream of Georges St.Pierre's return to the Octagon. The Canadian's return to the organization was close to happening in a superfight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, but the confrontation never got off the ground. In an interview with 'ESPN' reporter, Ariel Helwani, the sports legend explained the reason for not having fought against the current lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg).

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“They (UFC) had other plans. I know Khabib wanted to make the fight. I wanted it too. If you look at it from the Ultimate side, it's normal. I put myself in their shoes. They didn’t want to take the risk of winning the belt and then leaving it vacant,” said Georges.

The organization came into conflict with St.Pierre for this same reason when the Canadian returned from a four-year hiatus in his career, winning the middleweight title (up to 83,9kg) against Michael Bisping (2017) and then abdicated his post without defending his belt.

Thinking about avoiding this type of problem, Georges stated that he proposed that his fight against Khabib would not be worth the title. The presentation, then, would simply be the promotion of two great athletes who would step into the Octagon to test their talent.

“We even proposed that the fight not be for the belt. I would prefer it not to be worth the title”, explained the former middleweight and welterweight champion (up to 77kg.).

St.Pierre explained that his desire to face Nurmagomedov is purely for the challenge in his career, as the 'Eagle' is now one of the biggest names in the UFC. The athlete sees the Russian as a great opponent and he wouldn't need a belt to motivate him to share the Octagon with Khabib.

“I consider Khabib the best fighter in the world. He wanted to face me and I think it would be good for the fans,” he concluded.

At 38 years old, Georges has not performed professionally in MMA since his victory over Bisping, in November 2017. The athlete, however, never stopped training and always maintains good physical shape.