Teammate suggests Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC return could be against Georges St-Pierre
Khabib Nurmagomedov once said that he needed to fight three UFC lightweights to establish his legacy in the division - Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, and Georges St-Pierre.
He already faced and submitted Poirier last year at UFC 242. The Tony Ferguson fight got booked and cancelled five different times, and eventually 'El Cucuy' went on to lose to Justin Gaethje. Gaethje then went on to lose to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254.
Khabib announced his retirement after the bout and left his gloves in the middle of the Octagon. The entire MMA world however, is assuming that he will be back for one last fight to make his record a perfect 30-0.
Josh Thomson, a teammate of Khabib at the American Kickboxing Academy said in his Weighing In podcast with referee John McCarthy that he thinks the return will happen against Georges St-Pierre.
Josh Thomson 'weighs in' on a possible Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. GSP fight
Josh 'The Punk' Thomson addressed Khabib Nurmagomedov's recent Instagram post, which revealed that he was still in USADA's drug testing pool. The post said that this was the 47th time Khabib tested for drug under USADA since 2015.
In connection to this, Thomson said that he believes Khabib was waiting for the Georges St-Pierre fight to happen, otherwise he would not still be in the pool.
"I think we kind of all know where this is going. There is little bit of talk and conversation about the GSP thing still potentially happening. That's the only fight, I'm telling you guys right now, that is the only fight.
Thomson also highlighted the fact that Ali Abdelaziz has a good relationship with GSP, and it would further ease the process of getting the former welterweight and middleweight champion out of retirement for one last fight.
He has got the right manager to get the deal done, not because it's Ali (Abdelaziz), but because Ali knows GSP... I think Ali can call up GSP and say 'Hey, let's just be honest with each other. Are we into the fight or not?'... He wouldn't be in USADA's drug pool thing if he didn't (think it was possible). I don't think there's on other fight that interests him at all.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was always keen to fight GSP
The reigning UFC lightweight champion has said on multiple occasions that he was eager to fight Georges St-Pierre.
When rumors of GSP's retirement went around, Khabib Nurmagomedov posted a message on Instagram requesting him for one last fight before he retires.
Khabib's manager Ali Abdelaziz recently sent out a cryptic tweet as well that said '30-0' which led people to speculate whether it means 'The Eagle' was going to return for another fight.
If Josh Thomson's words are to be believed, Khabib Nurmagomedov might just come back for his dream contest against Georges St-Pierre.