UFC’s Khabib overlooks Conor McGregor rematch for Georges St-Pierre in April
- Nurmagomedov says he wants to fight legendary GSP to go 30-0 if he unifies titles by beating Justin Gaethje in October
- McGregor had seemingly looked to bait the lightweight champ after claiming he had a ‘hangover’ in their infamous 2018 clash
The UFC may have only just made Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje official for October, but the lightweight champion already has designs on his next fight.
Nurmagomedov doesn’t want to rematch nemesis Conor McGregor if he unifies the titles by defeating interim champ Gaethje – no, he wants to bring the legendary Georges St-Pierre out of retirement.
It was a comment from UFC commentator Joe Rogan that sparked the Russian’s revelation.
“It would be impossible for me to be more excited about this fight,” wrote Rogan on Instagram, after Dana White made the UFC 254 main event official. “The return of the GOAT lightweight king, @khabib_nurmagomedov vs his most dangerous challenger, @justin_gaethje. I can’t wait.”
That brought McGregor out of hiding.
The former two division champion, who also says he is retired, told Rogan to “chill” and commented that he had a “hangover” in his October 2018 submission defeat by Nurmagomedov.
Ali Abdelaziz reacts to Khabib vs Gaethje – ‘sad one will lose’
The undefeated Russian also slid into podcast extraordinaire Rogan’s comments, but surprisingly not to bicker with the Irishman, as the pair have enjoyed doing for the last few years on social media.
“October – Justin and April – GSP,” wrote Nurmagomedov, who with two more wins will reach a 30-0 record – something his manager Ali Abdelaziz told SCMP MMA he’s laser-focused on.
“Khabib’s been in the gym, man, he’s been training,” Abdelaziz said. “He’s focused, he’s dedicated. He’s more focused than ever. He has a goal to go to 30-0, and this is what he’s gonna do.”
The Dagestan native even hinted after beating Dustin Poirier in his last outing in September 2019 that he could hang up his gloves after reaching that milestone, which could be bad news for McGregor.
But UFC president White is not giving up hope of making the money-spinning fight, which set a UFC record of 2.4 million pay-per-view buys.
“He [Nurmagomedov] is fighting Gaethje next. I don't know who his last fight would be to make him 30. I don't know,” White told ESPN. “I know Conor has always wanted that fight since the last one, I mean that is the fight to make. I don't know, we will see how this all plays out. But, the Gaethje one is absolutely, positively the next fight for him.”
