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Despite Khabib Nurmagomedov staunchly claiming that he plans on staying retired from MMA, quite a few people close to the situation have been saying otherwise. Ali Abdelaziz is one of them.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's long-time friend and manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has been talking about a fight with Georges St-Pierre for a while now. He even went ahead and said that a bout with GSP would be the only thing to convince 'The Eagle' to come out of his retirement and return to the cage.
Ali Abdelaziz hints at Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. GSP fight
Although nothing has been made official about a potential super-fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre by either of the two fighters and the UFC, Ali Abdelaziz's tweet today has got fans thinking it might be an actual possibility.
Before his last fight in UFC against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, Khabib Nurmagomedov said at a press conference in Russia that he was expecting UFC to negotiate with GSP if he could beat 'The Highlight'.
"If I beat Gaethje, then in April I could fight St-Pierre. [The UFC] told me that they will negotiate with St-Pierre."
But Dana White showed no interest in the fight. He clarified in an interview with The Schmo that he does not think Georges St-Pierre was ready for a fight of that kind. Moreover, he said that he does not like catchweight fights and the Khabib-GSP super-fight would only be a possibility if GSP cuts down to Lightweight.
"I dunno, I’m not even thinking about that. If you look at what GSP said in the past and recently, his mind isn’t even there right now to get back into a camp and fight... I hate catchweight fights – they literally don’t mean anything and they make no sense. If GSP can make 155 pounds and make a run at Khabib’s title, that’s one thing. But I’m not a fan of catchweight."
However, both Dana White and Ali Abdelaziz have been adamant that the world has not seen the last of Khabib Nurmagomedov. They both have said in multiple interviews ever since that 'The Eagle' would return for the 30-0, which was the dream of his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
His father, whom he lost earlier this year, is the reason Khabib Nurmagomedov left fighting. While addressing his fans post-win over Justin Gaethje, he said that he did not see himself fighting inside the Octagon without his father by his side.
Will both the retired fighters return one last time inside the Octagon to fight each other? Only time will tell.
