Dana White: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Georges St-Pierre 'a fun fight to make' after Tony Ferguson's shot
UFC president Dana White is getting more and more fond of a potential matchup between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
Originally noncommittal, White changed his tune at the UFC 242 post-fight press conference in Abu Dhabi in early September. In his parting words, White answered a question about the possibility of the matchup with a long, drawn out pause, a smile, and then, “Sure.”
In an Instagram Live stream Wednesday, White was asked once again about the matchup between Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) and St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC). This time, he elaborated on the likelihood and timeline of the potential matchup.
Before the UFC seriously begins planning the fight between the Russian and Canadian, White said Nurmagomedov has business he needs to take care of. Former interim UFC lightweight champ Tony Ferguson is next in line.
“(The) Tony fight has to happen first,” White said. “Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib. Obviously if Khabib wins that fight, the ‘GSP’ fight will be a fun fight to make.”
According to White, St-Pierre is walking around lighter than ever. In fact, the UFC president revealed St-Pierre is currently walking around at a lighter weight than the Russian champion.
“I don’t know if you guys have seen pictures of ‘GSP,’ but he’s looking really, really, really (expletive) skinny right now, man,” White said. “He just did a cleanse or something. He’s in ridiculous shape still, but super lean.
“I think right now, he’s like 10 pounds lighter than Khabib is. Something like that somebody told me – so that’s pretty crazy.”
In an Instagram post by St-Pierre on Wednesday morning, the former champion appeared to have slimmed down. Alongside training partners Kevin Lee and Olivier Aubin-Mercier, “GSP” doesn’t look out of place next to his 155-pound cohorts.
St-Pierre hasn’t competed since UFC 217 in November 2017, when he defeated Michael Bisping for the middleweight title. Shortly after the win, St-Pierre vacated the title and re-retired in February 2019. However, there is still much interest surrounding the champion and a potential comeback.