Dana White: Georges St-Pierre Doesn’t Get to Cut the Line to Fight Khabib Nurmagomedov
Georges St-Pierre remains undecided on his fighting future but it appears if he does decide to return to the UFC, he won’t be getting a shot at lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
On Friday, UFC president Dana White stated that if St-Pierre wants to face the reigning lightweight champion, he’s going to have to earn that opportunity like everybody else.
Because of the long list of contenders all vying for a chance to face Nurmagomedov next, White doesn’t like the idea of St-Pierre just jumping the line to get a title shot when he’s never even competed in the lightweight division.
“How does Georges St-Pierre jump over all the guys fighting in that division to face Khabib?” White said when speaking to ESPN. “Just because all of a sudden he wants to come out and fight this guy — he doesn’t get to do that. If Georges St-Pierre is serious, listen, I’ll give you a fight with one of these guys in the top five. If you win, you’ll be in position for a title shot.
“We don’t even know if Georges St-Pierre can make 155 pounds. You know what I mean?”
White’s comments likely stem from the last time St-Pierre decided he was ready to fight and was granted an automatic title shot against former middleweight champion Michael Bisping in 2017.
St-Pierre returned, defeated Bisping to become champion and then just weeks later he vacated the belt and declared he was done fighting at middleweight due to serious issues he suffered as a result of adding so many pounds to prepare for that fight.
Since that time, St-Pierre has said numerous times that he didn’t believe the UFC would allow him to jump right into another title fight after the debacle that followed his last win against Bisping.
St-Pierre hasn’t even decided at this time if he’s actually going to compete again or not, although he has said that he’s confident he could get down to 155 pounds to compete in the lightweight division.
There was a rumor earlier this year that St-Pierre was going to be offered a fight against former title contender Nate Diaz but he quickly shot down that idea when asked about the matchup.
For now it appears St-Pierre is going to remain on the sidelines while the UFC works on securing Nurmagomedov’s next title defense when he’s ready to fight again.
