Khabib Nurmagomedov drops ideal timeframe for GSP superfight

Khabib Nurmagomedov has made his intentions clear. He plans on fighting Justin Gaethje in October, and Georges St-Pierre in April.

Nurmagomedov, the UFC lightweight champion, shared his plan in a comment on Instagram.

Brett Okamoto of ESPN has the details:

🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐 pic.twitter.com/DR4wvUNF99

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 29, 2020

“October: Justin and April: GSP,” Nurmagomedov wrote.

Khabib Nurmagomedov has not fought since September, 2019, when he defended his lightweight belt with a submission of Dustin Poirier. He was expected to take on Tony Ferguson in April, but wound up getting stranded in Russia when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

While he was in Russia, the UFC booked an interim title fight between Ferguson and Gaethje, which Gaethje won by fifth-round TKO. Since then, it’s been clear that Nurmagomedov will take on Gaethje next, but the timeline of the bout was unclear—particularly after the lightweight champion’s father and mentor, Abdulmanap, passed away.

Earlier this week, however, UFC President Dana White announced to CNN that Nurmagomedov and Gaethje will fight on October 24. In an interview with ESPN, he also revealed that he’d be willing to let Nurmagomedov fight St-Pierre thereafter, as it could well be the Russian’s final fight.

Georges St-Pierre, the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion, has not fought since late 2017, when he captured the middleweight belt with a submission win over Michael Bisping. The Canadian MMA then officially retired in February of 2019, but has always kept the door open to a super fight with Nurmagomedov.

While he recently suggested he intends to stay retired, he certainly still seems interested in the possibility of a fight with Nurmagomedov.

“Damn! Just when I thought I would have peace of mind,” St-Pierre told ESPN when asked about potentially fighting Nurmagomedov. “I look forward to watching Khabib and Gaethje in October. Best of luck to them.”

Do you think we’ll see Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre fight in April?