Georges St-Pierre has a few names in mind for his return.
The former two-division UFC Champion is back, not inside the Octagon, but on the grappling mat instead. St-Pierre is set to compete at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational on Dec. 14 with an opponent yet to be decided.
GSP’s List Of Potential Opponents
There are a lot of options out there for who GSP could grapple, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, who he unfortunately never fought in the UFC. While St-Pierre hasn’t ‘counted out’ a match with Khabib, the former lightweight champ wouldn’t make his list of potential opponents for his historic comeback.
“I think there’s many guys that could be an option,” St-Pierre said on The MMA Hour. “There are guys that are veteran fighters that have a good grappling background. I’m talking about maybe the Diaz brothers could be [an opponent]. I’m a competitive guy and something like that maybe I think the fans will want to see. Or it could be someone that is currently active. I don’t know. [Kamaru] Usman, [Colby] Covington, someone like this. It depends. I think it’s up to the audience to choose who they would like to see. I think it needs to be a formidable opponent, too. Like someone that is, is from a grappling background.
I’m not really interested on fighting someone who’s more like a, from an only a striking background. Cause I don’t think that the fans will be pleased with that. I think it needs to be someone that will give the fans a good show. I’m doing this more as a novelty competition match than a competition match that is there for a ranking to have a place among, to be the best.”
No Illusion Here
St-Pierre is considered the best, if not one of the best fighters to ever grace the Octagon. However, the double-champion says his days of fighting to be #1 are over. Don’t get the wrong idea though, that won’t stop him from being in tip-top shape for his first competition since his 2017 MMA clash with Michael Bisping.
“I have no illusion— I’m 42 years old, I have other priority that are more important than this right now. Even though I’m gonna show up and be in the best shape of my life for this, that I can be the most world prepared that I can be.”
St-Pierre ‘Not Sure’ About Khabib Nurmagomedov
GSP was asked about the possibility of finally locking horns with Khabib on the grappling mat. While he could come out of retirement for a grappling match, St-Pierre isn’t certain that Khabib would follow in his footsteps.
“I’m not sure. I think he’s retired,” St-Pierre said of Khabib as a potential foe. “His name was not on the list, he was not in the talk, but, I think he is retired and I’m not sure if he’s still in the circuit of doing martial arts right now.”
St-Pierre vs. Diaz 2?
Going back to his list of names, St-Pierre is totally a fan of a grappling rematch with old rival Nick Diaz.
“Yeah, that could be an interesting one,” St-Pierre said of Diaz. “He’s a very good grappler. He’s got more experience than me in grappling. So, I would have to make sure I come very well prepared for this one, if it’s Nick Diaz.”
The elder Diaz brother went to war with St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship all the way back in 2013. Diaz would lose a unanimous decision to St-Pierre, who racked up another title defense.
What a story it would be if the two former foes ran it back a decade after their first encounter.
