Georges St.
Pierre was supposed to be magic No. 30 on Khabib
Nurmagomedov’s journey to retirement.
Instead, “The Eagle” threw a curve and called it a career following
his second-round submission of Justin
Gaethje in the UFC 254 headliner on Saturday night. After the
victory, Nurmagomedov left his gloves in the Octagon and explained
his decision, which came on the heels of the death of his father
and coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, earlier this year.
“Today, I want to say, this was my last fight. No way am I going to
come here without my father,” Nurmagomedov said. “It was first
time, after what happened with my father, when UFC called me about
Justin. I talk with my mother three days, she don’t want that I go
fight without father. I promised her, it’s going to be my last
fight, and if I give my word, I have to follow this. It was my last
fight here.”
St. Pierre knows a little something about surprise announcements:
He took an indefinite hiatus from the sport after defeating
Johny
Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013, a revelation that
initially sent UFC president Dana White into a rage. Still, even
the former welterweight and middleweight champ was taken aback by
Nurmagomedov’s announcement, though he was effusive in his praised
for the 155-pound king.
“I was surprised,” St-Pierre told ESPN.
“I was not expecting that at all. … I thought he wanted to do, and
all the people in the media said he wanted to do 30-0. That’s his
choice. What a great way to finish a career. He left an incredible
legacy. One of the best to have ever done it — maybe the best to
have ever done it.”
St. Pierre is another fighter regarded on the short list of top
pound-for-pound figthters ever, along with the likes of Anderson
Silva and Jon Jones. He
briefly returned from hiatus to claim the 185-pound belt with a win
over Michael
Bisping in 2017 but retired again shortly thereafter when
negotiations for a potential bout vs. Nurmagomedov fell
through.
Talks of the dream matchup resurfaced in recent weeks, and there
seemed to be hope that the promotion would make it a reality if
Nurmagomedov could get past Gaethje. Those hopes are no longer, as
Nurmagomedov rides off into the sunset with a 29-0 mark.
“It did not happen,” St. Pierre said of the fight. “I’m good where
I am. Khabib is invincible now. He’s undefeated. It was a perfect
career. There’s nothing we can say bad about him. It’s a perfect
career, like 29-0 and you retire on top with the best performance
of his career. What do you want more? It was incredible. It was a
perfect fight in a perfect career — as close as it gets.”