Georges St-Pierre has revealed that his desire to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov came down to wanting to be the first to beat the man who seemed unbeatable.
The Canadian former UFC star is considered by many to be the greatest of all time and he retired at the top of the sport in 2017, having won the middleweight title in his first fight at the weight.
Before he went off into the sunset though the former welterweight champion wanted to try for third title and face Khabib for the lightweight title but the UFC weren't too keen, now the 39-year-old has explained why he wanted to fight the undefeated Russian.
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"Khabib was very exciting for me because, for a fighter, a fighter doesn't think like a normal person," GSP said on the MMA TRUFAN podcast.
"A fighter always wants to fight a guy who seems invincible, a guy who seems like the perfect fighter, who is unbeatable. He has an aura of invincibility. So, that means if I do it I'll be the first to have ever done it. It's not a question of money.
"Yeah, the money is there but it's not a question of money first. It's a question of glory, of self accomplishment, of making it in a way that you'll be in history forever, for myself."
Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible in May the 39-year-old spoke about the chances of coming out of retirement to face the undefeated Russian, saying, "Before I retired we tried to organise this fight and Khabib wanted it. We tried really hard. Unfortunately, the UFC didn't want it. They had other plans for Khabib.
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"But never say never. If I ever come back it needs to be on my terms and I'd want to take it one fight at a time. I don't want to be stuck in a contract, where if I win, I would have to compete again and again. I don't want to be that guy that fights three times a year any more. I'm past that time in my life. I'm very happy where I am.
"People always speculate about me coming back just because I retired myself from the sport, it's not the sport that retired me. That's the way athletes should get out. Unfortunately most of them don't and they pay the price later on. There's nothing more important than good health."
Khabib's next fight was scheduled to be against interim champion Justin Gaethje in September but the death of his father due to Covid-19 is likely to delay the fight.
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The Eagle's close friend Daniel Cormier recently questioned if the lightweight champion would be back this year, or at all.
Hopefully he does return and once he's beaten Gaethje maybe we can get a dream fight against GSP in the future.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, MMA, Russia, Georges St-Pierre