Georges St-Pierre explains why fight with “the best” Khabib Nurmagomedov didn’t happen

Georges St-Pierre is now retired. The Canadian legend announced the end of his mixed martial arts career at a Thursday morning press conference at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec Canada.

“There’s no tears. I’m very happy to do it,” St-Pierre said in the English portion of his retirement message. “In combat sports you should retire on top, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m happy I have the discipline to do it.”

With his retirement, Georges St-Pierre closes the door on a matchup many fans were hoping to see: a showdown with undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Speaking to the media on-scene at the press conference, St-Pierre explained why this fight failed to come to fruition.

As we know, Khabib Nurmagomedov was very interested in the matchup, even urging the Canadian to delay his retirement for a fight in November.

St-Pierre says he wanted the fight too, but the UFC “had other plans.”

In particularly, the promotion wanted him to return for more than one fight, which he says did not appeal to him in this phase of his career.

“Khabib wanted it, I wanted it, but the UFC had other plans.”

“Physically I’m at the top of my game, but the hunger is not the same,” St-Pierre said, explaining that he doesn’t have the motivation to return for multiple fights. “I wish Khabib the best of luck. I think he’s the best fighter right now. I can’t wait to watch his next fight.”

Georges St-Pierre last fought in November of 2017, in the main event of UFC 217. On that night, he returned to the cage after a prolonged absence, defeating Michael Bisping to claim the UFC middleweight belt. St-Pierre vacated the middleweight title shortly thereafter.

His next most recent fight occurred all the way back in November of 2013, when he defended his well-guarded UFC welterweight belt with a split decision win over Johny Hendricks.

Over the course of his legendary career, Georges St-Pierre has bested stars like Bisping, Hendricks, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Jake Shields, Josh Koscheck (twice), Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves, BJ Penn (twice), Jon Fitch, Matt Serra, Matt Hughes (twice), Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Jay Hieron and Karo Parisyan. He is undeniably one of the greatest fighters of all time. He’s 26-2 in sum.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 2/21/2019.