Dana White says Georges St. Pierre vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov “doesn’t make sense”

Although MMA fans have long wanted to see a superfight between Georges St. Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov, it appears that UFC president Dana White isn’t a fan of the matchup.

Speaking to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, White said that he isn’t interested in booking a potential matchup between GSP and Nurmagomedov anytime soon, even though he admits it’s a fight that both men want.

“I guess if we get into a position where Khabib wants GSP bad enough, we’ll have to talk about it. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t make sense to me,” White said.

“You have guys lined up behind Khabib like Tony Ferguson. Then you got Conor McGregor who wants a rematch. You have guys backed up who want a title shot at that division. You can’t back out of retirement and hand pick fights you want when you didn’t keep your word with me on defending the middleweight belt.”

White’s unwillingness to give Georges St. Pierre a title shot at 155lbs is directly tied back to his victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 217. GSP came out of a four-year layoff to submit Bisping and win the middleweight belt, and then promptly vacated it. He later went on to officially announce his retirement from MMA, though his coach Firas Zahabi says the door open to a potential return for the right fight. White doesn’t want that scenario playing out again at lightweight, which would in turn create chaos in one of the UFC’s marquee divisions.

“I love GSP, he’s the best ever. Great guy,” White said. “But GSP and I had a deal. He was going to fight Bisping for the middleweight title and if he won, defend the title. He bailed on that, he didn’t do it. You can’t just come out and hand pick fights you want for the title.”

If Georges St. Pierre comes out of retirement should he skip in line and get an immediate lightweight title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov?