Georges St-Pierre wanted Khabib Nurmagomedov before announcing retirement
Georges St-Pierre may very well go down as the greatest fighter of all-time. If he isn’t the GOAT, he is sure in the conversation. The Canadian announced his retirement from his storied MMA career. That career saw him be a dominant welterweight champion and end his career as the UFC’s middleweight champion.
However, St-Pierre wanted one more fight before he retired. He wanted to fight the lightweight champion, Khabib Numragomedov. That fight wouls show who really is the best and try to give Nurmagomedov his first loss. Well, unfortunately, the fight never came to fruition which has resulted in St-Pierre deciding to retire.
“My agent was talking to the UFC, we tried to organize the fight with Khabib,” St-Pierre said at his retirement press conference. “I know Khabib wants it and I want it, but the UFC had other plans. To the point where I am in my career, for me it’s more at this time taking one fight at a time. Instead of being there for several fights. The way the business works in UFC, if they promote someone they want to keep him there to have a guarantee that the guy is there. It’s like an investment.
“I don’t have the same motivation, I’m not the same person I used to be. I remember, just to show you my mental state of mine, it used to be winter and I was poor and I didn’t have much money, back in the day I used to run in the snow, put plastic bags on my feet and run in the snow, do my sprints and scream, “War!” like Marvin Hagler, I was crazy. I don’t do this stuff anymore, I used to want to go there and beat everybody, I don’t care who and when, I wanted to destroy everybody, to go on top. I don’t have the same anger, the same hunger anymore. Even though physically I feel I’m on top of my game, the hunger is not the same.”
Ultimately, St-Pierre is retired. But, questions are lingering on whether or not the Canadian would return in the future if the Nurmagomedov fight does indeed come to fruition. For now, the UFC said goodbye to one of the best ever.
