MMA
Kamaru Usman says a fight with Georges St-Pierre 'intrigues' him a lot
Georges St-Pierre is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history.
From November 2006 to November 2013, St-Pierre was the king of the welterweight division, going 12-1 and becoming a two-time welterweight champion. Since the end of his run, when he relinquished the belt after beating Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, the Canadian has competed one time — when he submitted Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in November 2017 to win the middleweight title.
Every welterweight champion has called out St-Pierre in the hopes of luring him back into the octagon. But St-Pierre is retired. But that hasn't stopped Kamaru Usman (16-1) of dreaming about the chance to knock off the guy who put the 170-pound division on the map.
"You know a fight with someone like Georges is a fight that makes me think," Usman said at a news conference Thursday in advance of Saturday's UFC 246 headlined by Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone. "That wakes me up because you know Georges is someone that's special to the mixed martial arts world. (A) guy that actually has the record right now (that I’m) currently chasing. And what better way to, you know, submit my legacy by actually going out there and breaking that record against that man because he hasn't really lost."
Even if St-Pierre (26-2) decided to return, he has never shown a keen interest in going back to the weight class he owned for seven years. But if he does decide to test his skills again, "The Nigerian Nightmare" would be glad to welcome him back.
"You know he walked away, and he's still in tip-top shape," Usman said. "He can come back, as he showed a couple years ago with Bisping. He could come back and still get it done. So that is a fight that intrigues me a lot. And that is something that I'm looking forward too."
