Arguably the UFC’s Greatest Ever Fighter… Georges St. Pierre Still Wants That Legacy Fight Against Khabib Nurmagamedov…
Many believe that Georges St. Pierre is the greatest UFC fighter of all time. The Canadian is certainly one of the top-three and without a doubt the most successful welterweight in the history of the promotion. He even became a two-weight champion when he returned after a four-year hiatus to claim the middleweight strap.
He’s one of the few genuine stars that the company has produced, with name recognition outside of MMA. He’s a superstar in his native Canada and even though his style wasn’t the most fan-friendly, he was still incredibly popular during his heyday.
Despite still potentially having more to give, ‘Rush’ is in no hurry to come back to the sport after officially retiring. He’s adamant that there is only one man who could tempt him back into an octagon and that is Khabib Nurmagamedov.
Return
MMA retirements last about as long as Jon Jones stays out of trouble. Recently, Urijah Faber just returned to win his comeback by KO, but the majority of unretirements end very badly. Chuck Liddell’s is a case in point. St. Pierre insists that there is only one fight that would bring him back, otherwise, he’s happy.
“A lot of people are attention seekers, they retire to come back and retire to come back,” St-Pierre told TSN. “I’m not that type of guy. We tried to make that fight with Khabib and the UFC told us they had other plans. Khabib wanted the fight, I wanted the fight, but unfortunately, it did not happen. That’s the reason why I retired.
“For me, it’s a lot more to lose than to win now and the most important thing for me is my health. I’m no longer, right now as I’m talking, pursuing my goal, which back in the day was to be the best fighter in the world. It was for many years and now it’s not my number one priority anymore.”
Legacy
When asked if he would fight anybody else for a crazy figure like $50 million, obviously St. Pierre said yes. But realistically that’s not going to happen, so the Khabib fight is the one that he wants because it would enhance his legacy. Either at lightweight or at 165lbs, he doesn’t mind.
“If I have to pick whoever I want, I’ll pick the easiest fight possible and I’ll run away with the $50 million,” St-Pierre joked.
“If I want the legacy fight, Khabib is the man to beat right now. He’s the best fighter in the world right now to me. Undefeated and he hasn’t shown any kind of weakness. Nobody has ever come close to solving the puzzle, so that’s why it was very interesting for me.”
Beatable
The Canadian also believes that the fight would be finely balanced. He thinks that he has the tools to beat the Russian, who is currently riding an unbelievable unbeaten 27 fight winning streak. He said:
“I think there’s different areas of the fight that I’m better than him. Even though he’s better than me in some stuff, I’m quicker in and out and controlling the distance and getting inside for the takedown faster in the open stance. He’s better near the fence, I’m better in the open.
“If I keep that fight in the open, I win. Maybe they don’t want me to beat him because if I leave after that, I ruin their whole investment.”
