“It would have to be Georges St-Pierre,”- Cormier thinks Khabib would return for a GSP fight

The UFC returns to Abu Dhabi in January for a triple headliner week, capped off by the return of Conor McGregor as he faces Dustin Poirier in a highly anticipated rematch at UFC 257 on January 23rd.

While the fights that week will get most of the attention, behind the scenes UFC President Dana White has a meeting planned with reigning lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in order to make a pitch to him to return to the Octagon.

Nurmagomedov called for retirement back in October after earning a second-round submission against Justin Gaethje while revealing that he promised his mother that he would retire after a last fight following the tragic loss of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, earlier in the year. Just days later, White cast doubt on his retirement after revealing that it was Nurmagomedov’s father’s wish for him to make it to 30-0 in his career and he’s still one more win away from achieving that goal.

With that meeting just a few weeks away, Nurmagomedov’s friend and teammate Daniel Cormier knows that the Khabib won’t return to the UFC simply for just another paycheck. However, Cormier understands why White is doing his absolute best to bring Nurmagomedov back for at least one more fight.

“I think that when we look at these things and Dana as a promoter and the head of the UFC, that’s what he’s supposed to do,” Cormier told MMA Fighting. “He’s supposed to be hopeful that he gets another Khabib Nurmagomedov fight. Why wouldn’t he? I think that’s where we are today. I don’t know for certain that Khabib is going to fight. I don’t know if he’s not going to fight. I try to keep our relationship a friendship. I don’t want to always be talking to him about things about his career because he’s a star.”

“But if you’re Dana White, I think he’s playing it the exact way he needs to and I don’t know where Khabib is personally. But if you ask me still, I know this guy is a man of his word so I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

Since money wouldn’t interest Khabib to return, Cormier states that only an opponent worthy of increasing Khabib’s legacy would do the trick.

When it’s all said and done, Cormier believes there’s actually only one fighter that would really satisfy Nurmagomedov’s desire to complete his legacy with another fight in the UFC.

“When your resume becomes so big, not many things can add value to it”- Cormier think Khabib would only return of he could build on his legacy

“It would have to be Georges St-Pierre,” Cormier said. “I believe that a big fight is what he would want in order to just prove himself. Like you said, Khabib Nurmagomedov is just trying to make history and a win over Georges St-Pierre would do exactly that for him.”

“When your resume becomes so big, not many things can add value to it. If he can go and [fight] GSP and beat GSP, that adds value.”

In terms of matchup, Cormier loves the clash of the two, especially considering the way Nurmagomedov performed in his last fight against Gaethje where he showed off some of his striking skills before ultimately finishing with a submission on the ground.

“It’s a great fight,” Cormier said. “I think Georges has good takedown defense. I think Georges has good striking. The highest level striking we had seen for a long time. Georges was one of those guys that almost seemed to be ahead of the times. He almost ahead of the times. Like we were learning to strike or wrestle while Georges was able to do them both at the same time. That was very rare back then and that’s why he stood out so far above everybody else.”

“If he fought Khabib, especially the Khabib that you saw against Justin Gaethje where people thought that he didn’t have in the standup, he was at a clear disadvantage. The way he fought in the standup, that tells you he’s got a guy in front of him that can do just about anything.”

A record of 29-0 is already an incredible accomplishment but if Nurmagomedov could cap off his career with a win over St-Pierre, he would undoubtedly put himself into position to be considered the greatest fighter of all time.

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