Ever since Georges St-Pierre officially announced his return to MMA competition after a four-year hiatus, speculation has drifted to a possible fight with Conor McGregor. It might happen, but according to UFC President Dana White, it’s a long ways off.
McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC), the current UFC lightweight champion, and St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC), the former longtime welterweight champ, are two of the biggest names and successful pay-per-view sellers in MMA history. If they were to fight, it would surely be one of the biggest events in UFC history, but many hurdles remain.
Not only does St-Pierre, who meets middleweight champ Michael Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) in UFC 217’s main event on Nov. 4, have to win the title, but he’d be contractually obligated to meet interim 185-pound champ Robert Whittaker in a unification match.
McGregor, meanwhile, is being targeted for a title-unification match of his own – with interim 155-pound titleholder Tony Ferguson. White said all those fights must take place before giving any real thought toward booking “The Notorious” vs. “Rush.”
“GSP would need to defend his title first at 185, and Conor has some business to handle himself,” White told TSN.ca while in Toronto for a UFC 217 media tour. “It would be a year and a half down the road before we even started talking about that.”
White said it’s especially difficult to look so far ahead when it comes to St-Pierre. The French-Canadian hasn’t stepped in the octagon since November 2013 and has already stated that an official retirement could happen at any time, especially if he loses a fight.
Additionally, St-Pierre said he’s not going to pursue a fight with McGregor because he doesn’t call out smaller fighters, but he admitted he would be “honored” to compete against the brash Irishman.
St-Pierre has said he will likely walk away from the sport for good if he can’t beat Bisping at UFC 217, but White said he’s not necessarily buying that. St-Pierre hasn’t lost in more than 10 years, and White said his competitive instincts wouldn’t allow him to hang up his gloves on his a loss.
“I think GSP is one of those guys who wouldn’t want to go out like that,” White said. “I think he will go back to 170 (pounds) and take a fight there. I would imagine. Guy’s been a world champion most of his career. I just don’t see him going out like that.”
White said he doesn’t hate the idea of St-Pierre eventually fighting McGregor, though, but that’s mainly because he thinks any fight involving McGregor has mass appeal and significance.
“Everybody’s intriguing for Conor McGregor,” White said. “If you look at Conor at 145, 155 and 170 – everything is intriguing.”
For more on UFC 217, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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