"I really like that match" - Chael Sonnen in favor of rumored grappling bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre
Chael Sonnen has chimed in with his take on the rumored grappling matchup between MMA legends Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
In a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen explained that both 'GSP' and Nurmagomedov were incredibly grappling-heavy in their MMA careers. Therefore, determining who’s the better grappler would give us a great idea of how an MMA fight between them would’ve played out.
Highlighting why he’d like to watch their grappling match, Sonnen stated:
“You can’t pass on the sport’s two biggest stars of all time in any capacity, let alone if they’re going to come together, and still continue to call yourself a promoter. You either are or you are not. It’ll be interesting where this goes. I really like that match.”
'The American Gangster' further added:
“And people always think that Georges is going to come back. I’ve argued for you guys that I’ve never believed Michael Bisping was retired. Now, only time will tell – Bisping either comes back and I was right, or Bisping doesn’t come back and I was wrong. But very few guys keep themselves in this level of shape.”
Sonnen added that keeping oneself in shape is simply not a fun thing to do. He indicated that the people who train hard – akin to how 'GSP', Bisping, and Nurmagomedov still do – usually do so with some goals in mind.
Sonnen pointed out that such individuals aim to earn a higher belt in martial arts, win tournaments, fight in the UFC, or something of that ilk; which is why they train so hard.
The former UFC title contender insinuated that both St-Pierre and Nurmagomedov aren’t really retired from the fight game. He opined that since they won’t clash in a striking matchup, 'GSP' and Nurmagomedov could instead resolve their conflict by facing off in a grappling match.
Watch Chael Sonnen address a potential Georges St-Pierre vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov grappling match in the video below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager hinted at ‘The Eagle’ returning to compete in a grappling match
The MMA super-fight between former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre failed to come to fruition. This was despite multiple attempts to book the fight at a time when both fighters were actively competing.
'GSP' hasn’t competed in MMA since 2017 whereas Nurmagomedov last fought in 2020. They’ve retired from MMA but have consistently maintained that they’d be willing to compete in grappling matches.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz recently put forth a tweet hinting that ‘The Eagle’ could compete in a grappling bout. Nevertheless, while 'GSP' recently stated that he’d like to face Nurmagomedov in a grappling match, ‘The Eagle’ himself is yet to respond to the same.
rumors Eagle FC going to have Grappling tournament soon @TeamKhabib @Rizvan_RM 👀👀 can you imagine if Khabib compete also