When Georges St. Pierre officially announced his retirement in 2019, he mentioned that one of the final hang-ups was a potential bout with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomeodov.
“We tried to organize the fight with Khabib, I know Khabib want it and I want it, but the UFC had other plan[s],” St. Pierre said at a press conference that day. “To the point where I am in my career, for me it’s more taking one fight at a time instead of being there for several fights, and the way the business works … if they promote someone, they want to keep him somewhere … it’s like an investment.”
In a recent interview with ESPN, St. Pierre reiterated those thoughts, as he was aware the promotion didn’t want him vacating a belt like he did with the middleweight title. He also believes the promotion didn’t want to tarnish the Dagestani’s record with a one-off opponent.
“They had other plans. I know Khabib wanted to have that fight. I wanted it,” St. Pierre told ESPN. “But if you look on the UFC’s side … they didn’t want to take the risk of me winning and then after vacating again.”
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However, when St. Pierre’s team proposed a non-title fight instead, he said the promotion balked at that notion, as well. As a result, St. Pierre vs. Nurmagomedov remains nothing more than a hypothetical.
“I didn’t want it to be for the title. I would rather do it not for a title,” he said. “For me it was because I considered Khabib, right now, the best fighter in the world. And he wanted to fight me as well. It was a good fan fight. They didn’t want it. They had other plans for Khabib, and I understand that. They had a lot to lose.
“In a way I can take that as a compliment because maybe they saw me as a threat.”
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