"This guy is my MMA hero" - Khabib Nurmagomedov is all praise for Georges St-Pierre after their recent meeting
Moments after meeting Georges St-Pierre on stage at the Arnold Sports Festival in the United Kingdom, Khabib Nurmagomedov called him his mixed martial arts hero on social media.
In a post shared by ESPN MMA on Instagram, which included a couple of photos and a video regarding the meetup between GSP and 'The Eagle', the latter lauded the former in the comments section.
"This guy is my MMA hero," said Khabib.
Two UFC GOAT contenders, St-Pierre and Khabib, shared a heartfelt moment on stage during the Arnold Sports Festival on Friday.
Former welterweight and middleweight champion St-Pierre jokingly choked former lightweight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov - who was sitting on a sofa - from behind. The duo then immediately hugged each other in delight.
The two UFC legends went on to interact with fans at the event and later posed for photos.
It is interesting to note that Georges St-Pierre was touted to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov when the 33-year-old Russian fighter was the lightweight champ.
Ever since GSP vacated the middleweight belt he won from Michael Bisping in 2017, his return to the octagon was a major talking point among MMA fans around the world.
After Khabib won his title at UFC 223 in 2018, he called out St-Pierre, who was also interested in moving down to the lightweight division to challenge the champion. However, the UFC couldn't finalize the matchup.
Georges St-Pierre was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame last week
Canadian MMA legend Georges St-Pierre was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Modern Wing last Thursday in Las Vegas.
He was part of the Class of 2020, which also included the likes of Kevin Randleman (Pioneer Wing), Marc Ratner (Contributor Wing) and Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 1 bout in 2013 (Fight Wing).
UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2020, inducted Thursday night, includes:
🏆 Georges St-Pierre
🏆 Kevin Randleman
🏆 Marc Ratner
🏆 Jones vs. Gustafsson (2013)
Dustin Poirier was also honored with the Forrest Griffin Community Award for his charity work with the Good Fight Foundation. https://t.co/JpMqek1wIy
Georges St-Pierre announced his retirement from the sport in February 2019. He holds an overall career record of 26-2.
St-Pierre is the fourth fighter in UFC history to become a two-division champion. The 40-year-old former mixed martial artist also has the record for the most wins in the UFC welterweight division (19) and he's completed the most takedowns in the world's biggest MMA promotion (90) as well.