Khabib Nurmagomedov has made it no secret that he would like to fight the retired Georges St. Pierre. For what it’s worth, the latter has reciprocated that sentiment.
In fact, “GSP” claimed the roadblocks stopping a fight with Khabib was partially behind his reasoning for retirement from MMA.
While Nurmagomedov is set to defend his UFC lightweight belt against foe Tony Ferguson in 2020 next, he is still hoping to square off against French-Canadian St. Pierre, a former UFC champion in both welterweight and middleweight divisions.
“Our opponent is definitely Tony Ferguson. There’s no other name that deserves it. We wanted the GSP fight, but GSP didn’t get along with the UFC,” Nurmagomedov told Fight World Turkey [H/T Middle Easy].
“For this reason, our only and most valuable option is Ferguson. However, it is still wrong to say 100 percent it will be this fight without signing the papers. If the UFC and GSP can negotiate, we want to meet GSP after the Ferguson fight.”
St. Pierre hasn’t fought since his triumphant return to the sport win the middleweight championship against Michael Bisping in 2017.
GSP relinquished his title after suffering from ulcerative colitis, thought to have resulted from his weight gain to compete at 185 pounds in the division above his welterweight home.
Last time out for Nurmagomedov, the Dagestani wrestling specialist submitted Dustin Poirer in the third round with a rear-naked choke.
