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UFC legend Georges St-Pierre hasn’t officially announced his UFC comeback plans just yet, but the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion did reveal in separate interviews this week that he was still thinking about it.
Speaking to TSN on Wednesday about a potential UFC comeback, St-Pierre said per MMA Junkie, “Why step back in? But why not step back in? We only live once. That’s the question that I’m facing now, you know?”
Additionally, St-Pierre reaffirmed on Wednesday in an interview with ESPN his desire to face only the one fighter he considers to be the “biggest fish” in the UFC’s pond right now: UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“If I come back, it would be for one fight,” St-Pierre told ESPN. “And I need to take, for me, the biggest fish. And…the top guy right now, the name is Khabib. As a fighter, the most exciting thing is to take the guy who seems invincible, unbeatable. He has the aura of invincibility. But it’s also the scariest thing to do.”
St-Pierre hasn’t fought in the UFC since beating Michael Bisping for the UFC’s 185-pound middleweight title back in 2017 at UFC 217, but the MMA legend has continued to remain tied to Nurmagomedov as a potential superfight opponent.
Nurmagomedov faces interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje next at UFC 254 on October 24 in Abu Dhabi.
Will UFC Make Fight?
While UFC president Dana White has gone back and forth over whether he would want to pit Nurmagomedov against St-Pierre in the proposed superfight, Nurmagomedov did indicate over the summer that he wanted to lock horns with the legendary champ in April 2021 assuming he’s able to defeat Gaethje at UFC 254.
In fact, Nurmagomedov already revealed to reporters back then exactly why he thought the potential superfight against St-Pierre would be such an important fight.
“If [St-Pierre] comes back to the UFC and agrees to fight me, I’m fighting him,” Nurmagomedov said. “Why? Because the last time he lost was 2007. My career started in 2008. Together we’ve been undefeated for 25 years. I’m talking in terms of time, not fights.”
For Nurmagomedov, facing St-Pierre is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the undefeated champion also said he believes it would be virtually the same thing for the UFC, too.
“I don’t think the UFC will get another chance to make a fight like that, definitely not in the next 10 years,” Nurmagomedov said. “…Georges St-Pierre is next.”
For his part, White at least seemed agreeable to the idea when asked about it earlier this year.
“Sure. Yeah, it’s the last fight of his career, the guy’s been great…to the company, he’s been great for the sport and I like Khabib a lot,” White said per ESPN. “I would do anything Khabib wanted to do.”
St-Pierre Remains Unsure UFC Would Make Fight
Still, St-Pierre revealed to ESPN on Wednesday that if the Khabib vs. GSP fight doesn’t happen like both fighters seem to want, it would be the UFC’s fault.
In other words, it won’t be because the fighters don’t want to make the fight.
“The chances are very low,” St-Pierre said. “I highly, highly doubt it. It’s not because of Khabib. I believe it’s because of the UFC. We tried two years ago. Two years ago, we were very flexible. We tried everything. And it didn’t work two years ago. I don’t see why it will work now.”
According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, the UFC’s reasoning for such a stance is simple.
The bout previously fell through in 2018 and 2019 “because UFC wasn’t interested in having St-Pierre fight for a third title when he stepped away from competition on two occasions while holding belts.”
Still, hope remains the fight can happen.
There have been numerous reports over the last few months suggesting Nurmagomedov could be headed toward retirement after his 30th professional fight, so things might be on their way to coming together.
If that’s the case, the Khabib vs. GSP superfight could become a reality.
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