UFC: Georges St-Pierre needs to pass, again, on Khabib Nurmagomedov superfight
- Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ seems bent on a ‘can’t win’ fight against lightweight king Khabib
- Taking on undefeated Dagestan native would be foolish, as 39-year-old Canadian risks tarnishing his great legacy
One of the most difficult things for any athlete comes not during the games they play, or sports they pursue, but in accepting when it is finally time to call it quits.
Since 2018, there has been chatter, rumours and blog posts about St-Pierre coming out of retirement again for one last fight. His final bout was against Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in November 2017, a contest St-Pierre won easily to claim the middleweight title, but at times he looked apathetic and, quite frankly, more than ready to hang up the gloves.
Bisping tried to goad St-Pierre into a war of words and it was quite clear in the lead-up to the fight the Montreal native was growing weary of all the trash talking he was being forced to ingest.
One selling point of a fight, for both, is the lead-up would probably be void of the trash talk they have had to endure throughout their careers. St-Pierre has fought some of the most braggadocios, foul-mouthed, hot-headed fighters of all-time: Bisping, Josh Koscheck and Dan Hardy, who is so verbally on point he is now a commentator for the UFC.
Khabib would un-retire for GSP fight, not Conor, says manager
The same goes for Nurmagomedov, who has had to endure years of verbal wrath from Conor McGregor, who has taken trash-talking to a whole new level of pizazz.
Nurmagomedov and St-Pierre clearly have a lot of respect for each other. The Dagestan native said fighting the Canadian would be an honour and most definitely a legacy bout he is interested in. Beating St-Pierre, who is clearly past his prime and would have buckets of ring rust, would still add another impressive chapter to his career.
While “The Eagle” has less to lose from fighting St-Pierre, given he could chalk it up to luck and either ask for a rematch or rejoin the lightweight division and smother a plethora of opponents to scrub a loss from memory, St-Pierre does not have that luxury.
Losing to Nurmagomedov, which most pundits believe would happen, would just add a sour note to the extraordinary symphony that is St-Pierre’s legacy. The last time “Rush” lost a fight was in 2007, when Matt Serra upset him at UFC 69. St-Pierre then went on a vindication tear, beating Koscheck and Matt Hughes before pounding Serra with his knee in 2008 to retake and unify the welterweight belt he had lost.
It’s not hard to speculate where GSP’s head is at here. He is a champion, a warrior, and he wants to fight the best. He has also kept in shape over the past few years. Nurmagomedov is the top fighter within his catchweight and would present a salivating opportunity for a legacy fight.
Many athletes are defying Father Time – a perfect example being 43-year-old Tom Brady, who is having a career resurgence with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sceptics felt he was washed up and wouldn’t be as powerful without the backing of the New England Patriots, but Brady has shown if you take care of yourself and your body, you can extend your career to new lengths.
The problem with St-Pierre is he hasn’t fought in nearly four years. Brady hasn’t missed a regular snap since joining the NFL in 2000. UFC president Dana White is a big believer in “ring rust” and it is hard to dismiss this.
St-Pierre coming out of retirement to fight a lesser opponent, say another ageing star, would be much easier to digest, but that wouldn’t be a challenge that would excite him enough to get back in the cage.
Fighting Nurmagomedov, who just retired at the top of his game, would be a disaster. There is no way he would beat the Russian, no matter how fit he may still be as he approaches 40.
