Firas Zahabi Says GSP vs. Khabib Shouldn’t Be Forced

Renowned head coach Firas Zahabi would rather see Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov stay retired.

St-Pierre vs. Nurmagomedov has long been talked about as a dream fight. While “Rush” and “The Eagle” have expressed interest in the fight, the UFC never made it happen. UFC President Dana White was hesitant in booking the bout due to a deal gone wrong once St-Pierre vacated the UFC Middleweight Championship in late 2017.

While the UFC boss later warmed up to the idea, Nurmagomedov announced his retirement following a second-round submission victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. White believes that Nurmagomedov will ultimately forgo retirement in an attempt to go 30-0 in his pro MMA career.

Taking to his YouTube channel, Zahabi explained why he’d rather see GSP and Khabib stay retired (h/t Bloody Elbow).

“Listen, Khabib is retired, Georges is retired. I’m happy to keep them retired. I don’t want to get too involved. I don’t want to call Georges and say ‘Hey man, why don’t you get off the movie set? Why don’t you get off all these projects, leave your family, put your personal life on hold — and let’s do a training camp!’ I don’t have the heart to ask him to do that.

“He has to do that on his own. If he wants to do it, it’s got to come from deep down inside. That guy has written his story. He’s done it, Khabib has done it. I don’t think we should ask them to come back. They should want to come back.”

If Nurmagomedov sticks to his retirement, then he’ll walk away from the sport with a perfect record of 29-0. He’d also leave as the undisputed UFC Lightweight Champion.