Zahabi Believes St-Pierre Beats Nurmagomedov
In an unsurprising bit of news, Georges St-Pierre’s head coach Firas Zahabi believes his student defeats Khabib Nurmagomedov in a potential super fight.
St-Pierre officially announced his retirement last year after a proposed fight with Nurmagomedov failed to come to fruition. Despite that, the former welterweight champion is continually asked about coming out of retirement and fighting “The Eagle.”
For many, there’s an intrigue because of both fighters having a similar, dominant wrestling style. However, Zahabi believes St-Pierre has way too many tools to not come away with the victory. In addition, he feels Nurmagomedov won’t have his way with St-Pierre the way he usually does with his other opponents at lightweight.
”I think Georges, just his kicking ability alone, Georges’ kicking ability alone would win him rounds,” Zahabi told the fightTIPS podcast. “They’re both good jabbers, I think Khabib is a good jabber but I think defensively, Georges is far superior. His boxing is longer and better, more precise. If you look at it statistically, I think Georges’ numbers are better. And he has a superior kicking ability.
”Even if Khabib were to take Georges down — let’s give the best case scenario — I think Georges is getting up, personally. Georges’ jiu-jitsu is impeccable. It’s not going to be like holding down anybody in the 155 pound division today. It’s another level.
“… Georges is incredibly hard to take down. Look at his career, how many times has he been taken down? And when he was taken down, how long did he stay down? It was a fraction of a second like he’s always up. He’s a difficult human being to keep down.”
Of course, all this talk is futile if the fight never happens.
But despite the UFC seemingly not wanting it and St-Pierre’s retirement, Zahabi doesn’t rule out the possibility. However, it would have to be a catchweight bout.
”I think so,” Zahabi added. “I think it’s a possibility. … Listen, I don’t want to talk for the guy. I don’t think he’s done. … I just think he’s so competitive that one day he’s going to see a guy that everybody thinks is unbeatable and then he’s going to want to come back. Khabib is one of those guys. But it has to be a 165 pound fight. Will the UFC do it? That’s the question.”
In all likelihood, though, the chances seem slim.
