Georges St. Pierre Open to Returning for Shot at Khabib Nurmagomedov

Spoke with the legendary Georges St-Pierre and asked why he would want to step back into the UFC pressure cooker when he could be comfortably retired.

His reply: "Why step back in? But why NOT step back in? We only live once! So that's the question that I'm facing now." pic.twitter.com/IxYLhBE68O

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) October 7, 2020

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

It seems that “Rush” might be considering fighting again, but only against one opponent.

On Feb. 21, 2019, Georges St. Pierre announced his official retirement from mixed martial arts at a press conference at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Since then, the former UFC champion decided to focus on his acting career, closing the door for a return in the Octagon.

In a recent interview with ESPN, St. Pierre confessed that he has "mixed feelings" about fighting again, but is also open to face the current UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0).

“If I ever come back, I'm not coming back for many fights,” he said. “If I come back, it would be for one fight. And I need to take, for me, the biggest fish. And the one -- for me, I believe -- the top guy right now, the name is Khabib. As a fighter, the most exciting thing is to take the guy who seems invincible, unbeatable. He has the aura of invincibility. But it's also the scariest thing to do.”

The former two-division champion, "Rush" is currently riding an impressive 13-bout winning streak. He has claimed some relevant victories at the expense of former champions like B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes and Johny Hendricks. The last time he stepped in the Octagon he submitted Michael Bisping and claimed the 185-pound belt at UFC 217 back in November 2017.

Shortly after that victory, he had some health problems due to ulcerative colitis that forced him to vacate the belt after only 34 days. On top of that, the negotiations between him and the UFC for GSP’s return never went through; that's why St. Pierre prefers not to build too much the hype for a clash with “The Eagle.”

“The chances are very low,” St. Pierre added when asked about the Nurmagomedov fight coming together. “I highly, highly doubt it. It's not because of Khabib. I believe it's because of the UFC. We tried two years ago. Two years ago, we were very flexible. We tried everything. And it didn't work two years ago. I don't see why it will work now.”

In the meantime, “The Eagle” will headline the upcoming UFC 254 event. Nurmagomedov will face interim titleholder Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification bout.