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Published 19:20 IST, August 27th 2020

Georges St-Pierre says UFC BLOCKED him from fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018

Georges St-Pierre revealed that both he and Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted to fight in 2018 and his team tried to book the fight, but UFC was just not “interested”.

Reported by: Adil Khan
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georges st-pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov
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A couple of weeks ago, Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he would like to go up against UFC icon Georges St-Pierre in April 2021, right after the Justin Gaethje fight which is scheduled to take place at UFC 254 in October 2020. However, GSP recently told SunSport that Nurmagomedov vs St-Pierre would have taken place in 2018 if UFC hadn't scrapped the idea. Georges St-Pierre revealed that both he and Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted to fight in 2018 and his team tried to book the fight, but UFC was just not “interested”.

“Two years ago before I retired we tried to make that fight happen, and we tried everything. Khabib was interested, I was interested but the UFC was not.”

Also Read l Khabib Nurmagomedov expresses desire to fight Georges St-Pierre after Justin Gaethje

Georges St-Pierre then hailed Khabib Nurmagomedov as the "best fighter on the planet", but stated that he believes UFC would still resist any attempts to book a fight between him and the Eagle of Dagestan. Reports claim that UFC is not on board with the fight because they know Nurmagomedov vs St-Pierre will be GSP’s last fight and if he wins the fight, he will become the new UFC lightweight champion, which he won’t be able to defend.

"I have doubts and I haven't received any offers. And I don't think for the UFC it’s in their best interest for me to go fight."

Also Read l 'Conor McGregor begged me not to kill him': Khabib Nurmagomedov on their UFC 229 bout

Dana White open to book Georges St-Pierre vs Khabib Nurmagomedov

After Khabib Nurmagomedov showed interest in fighting Georges St-Pierre in 2021, rumours started swirling that Nurmagomedov wants GSP to be his last opponent before announcing retirement. Later, UFC president Dana White sat down with ESPN where he revealed that he would be open to booking a fight between Nurmagomedov and GSP if it’s Khabib’s last fight. He admitted that he likes Nurmagomedov and will try to do anything the undisputed lightweight champion wants for his last fight.

"That's a fight to make, but I don't know. We'll see how this plays out. Sure, [I would be open to St-Pierre] if it's his last fight. This guy's been great to the company, great to the sport. I like Khabib a lot. I would do anything Khabib wanted to do," said Dana White.

Also Read l UFC News: Khabib plans training for UFC 254 bout against Justin Gaethje outside the US

Also Read l UFC News: McGregor takes a jibe at Khabib's tweet, ridicules his style

Image credits: UFC/ YouTube

Updated 19:20 IST, August 27th 2020