Firas Zahabi discusses Georges St-Pierre’s advantages over Khabib Nurmagomedov

Firas Zahabi, the head coach at Tristar MMA, believes Georges St-Pierre could make a comeback for the right fight — potentially a fight with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“I think so. I think it’s a possibility,” Zahabi told fightTips recently (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Listen, I don’t want to talk for the guy but I don’t think he’s done. I just… He’s so competitive that one day he’s gonna see a guy that everyone thinks is unbeatable and then he’s going to want to come back. Khabib’s one of those guys but it has to be like a 165 fight. Will the UFC do it? That’s the question.”

Were Georges St-Pierre to return for a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Zahabi believes it would be a competitive fight. That being said, the Tristar coach believes his star pupil would be buoyed by his kicking game, his “impeccable” jiu jitsu, and his world-class takedown defense.

Here’s how Zahabi broke down the matchup:

“There’s no way I can tell you I’m not biased,” he said. “I’m biased for sure. But I think Georges just his kicking ability alone, his kicking ability alone will bank him rounds. They’re both good jabbers. I think Khabib is a good jabber but defensively, Georges is far superior. His boxing is longer and better, more precise – if you look at it statistically, his numbers are better – and he has a superior kicking ability.

“Even if Khabib were to take Georges down – let’s give him the best case scenario – I think Georges is getting up, personally. He’s going to get up. Georges’ jiu-jitsu is impeccable. It’s impeccable. It’s not gonna be like holding down anybody in the 155 division today. It’s another level. Georges, even if Khabib gets him down – and I love Khabib, I’m a mega Khabib fan, as a person and as a fighter, I’m a huge fan of his – Georges’ ability to get up is incredible and I’ll be surprised if Khabib gets more than one takedown. It would shock me, it would surprise me to be honest with you. Georges is incredibly hard to take down. Look at his career, how many times did he get taken down? And when he was taken down, how long did he stay down? It was a fraction of a second. He’s always up. He’s a difficult human being to keep down.”

Who do you think would win a fight between Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/6/2020.