UFC News: Ship has sailed on St-Pierre vs Khabib, says Firas Zahabi
Georges St-Pierre has made no secret of his desire to one day return to the UFC to test himself against the immovable object that is Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Despite officially being retired, GSP has kept up appearances in the MMA media, regularly stating that he could be tempted back into the cage if a fight with Khabib were to materialise - even suggesting that he tried to set up the fight before his retirement.
The ship has sailed
Unfortunately for those who were holding out hope for a dream match between the pair at 155lbs, cold water has been poured all over the ongoing speculation by St-Pierre's long-time head coach Firas Zahabi, who claims the likelihood of a fight between the two at lightweight is dwindling.
“Right now I think the ship has sailed on 155. I don’t think Georges will ever do 155. I think there was a time and place and window where Georges would make that sacrifice to do a mega-fight. But I think that window’s passed, personally.”
“He’s older now, and life is good. He’s found a social life, a balance in life of training and family and friends. To leave all that to do a 155 is a big cost in terms of sacrificing energy and preparation. He would have to prep six months to get to that. He would have to set it up to get done. 155 would be work. Is he going to work that much? I think that ship has sailed." (MMAJunkie)
It is not a huge surprise that there are those who question St-Pierre's ability and desire to cut down to 155 lbs. Traditionally, GSP would be cutting a substantial amount of bodyweight just to make 170 lbs.
On the other hand, this could simply be GSP's management attempting to strengthen their position at the negotiation table should the UFC ever come knocking in the hope of booking one of the biggest super-fights in the history of mixed martial arts. As mentioned previously, St-Pierre and Khabib have made no secret of their desire to meet inside the cage one day in the future.
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