Georges St-Pierre reveals Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team privately warned of callout before shocking retirement: “They pulled me right back in”

Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre was expecting to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov.

‘Rush’ retired from the sport in February 2019, over a year after his successful return against Michael Bisping. When St-Pierre announced his retirement, he meant it. As of now, the Canadian hasn’t competed in years and has shown zero interest in doing anything besides an exhibition boxing match.

However, that wasn’t always the case. For years following his retirement, the former champion was linked to Khabib Nurmagomedov. ‘The Eagle’ had long hoped for a potential dream fight against St-Pierre, and his team believed the bout was going to happen.

In fact, they were so sure, they notified Georges St-Pierre before UFC 254 that the Russian would likely call him out. He recalled the events during a recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast. There, St-Pierre admitted that he was pretty excited about the callout, adding that he would’ve fought ‘The Eagle’.

However, the callout never came. Following a submission win over Justin Gaethje, the lightweight announced his own retirement. Considering Nurmagomedov’s full exit from MMA, including coaching, one has to assume a dream fight with St-Pierre is permanently off the table.

Image via @georgesstpierre on Instagram

Georges St-Pierre reveals planned Khabib Nurmagomedov callout

“Khabib at one point, I thought it was the only fight I would comeback for,” Georges St-Pierre stated in the interview. “Up to his last fight when he fought Justin Gaethje I was a commentator, french broadcasts, I was doing broadcasts. I was in Montreal, it was in COVID… I was stuck there, and I was doing the commentating.”

He continued, “Everybody, including his entourage, told me ‘Be ready because he’s going to call you out’, so I thought I was coming out of retirement. I had butterflies, like ‘S*it’. Just when I thought I was done, they pulled me right back in… Then he won, took the mic, and retired. Nobody saw that coming, even his own people. They didn’t know that, I knew some people in his camp telling me that he was going to call me out.”

What do you make of these comments? How do you think Georges St-Pierre vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov would go? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!