Georges St-Pierre's mega-fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov fell apart because the UFC feared he'd win, then immediately retire with the championship
- Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov's mega-fight was nixed because the UFC was concerned the Canadian would win.
- That is according to the fighter himself, who said he contemplated coming out of retirement for a shot at becoming the first person to defeat Nurmagomedov.
- St-Pierre was a UFC welterweight champion for five years before going on a four-year hiatus. He then beat middleweight champ Michael Bisping in 2017, vacated the title, then retired for good.
- "They didn't want to take the risk of me winning the title and then vacating again," St-Pierre said.
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Georges St-Pierre's mega-fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov fell apart because the UFC feared he'd win, then retire with the belt.
That's according to St-Pierre himself, who said he was interested in coming out of retirement for one more swing of the fists, one more grapple, and one more cage-fight.
St-Pierre is considered as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time because of his black belt in jiu jitsu, his expert wrestling ability, and his awesome winning run in the Octagon.
The Canadian, a UFC welterweight champion for five years who then won the middleweight title after besting Michael Bisping in 2017, lost just twice in a career which spanned 15 years and 28 matches.
St-Pierre has not competed since taking the title from Bisping, but was tempted to return to the Octagon for a shot at the unbeaten Sambo athlete Nurmagomedov.
It was a fight which Nurmagomedov wanted, too, but apparently the UFC was unenthused fearing that St-Pierre might do again what he did after fighting Bisping. That is, beat the champion then walk out of the arena with the belt around his waist, only to vacate the title 34 days later amid ambiguity whether he'd ever fight again.
"I considered Khabib right now the best fighter in the world," St-Pierre told ESPN. "And he wanted to fight me as well. So I thought it was a good fan fight."
Nurmagomedov, ranked by Insider as the No.1 fighter in MMA today, already has one legacy-defining win on his resume after submitting Conor McGregor in the fourth round of a wild fight in 2018.
A clear victory over St-Pierre would have boosted Nurmagomedov's worldwide status even further. But it was considered a risky match for the UFC to book.
"It you look on the UFC's side, if I put myself in their shoes … they didn't want to take the risk of me winning the title and then vacating again."
Nurmagomedov was supposed to defend his lightweight title against Tony Ferguson on April 18, but the show was moved from its original venue in New York, then canceled entirely because of the coronavirus pandemic which has swept through the United States.
He is currently without an opponent but is preparing to be ready for a September fight. In a recent Instagram post, Nurmagomedov said: "In peaceful time you have to prepare for war."
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