Is it just a matter of time before Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre square off inside the octagon?
Chael Sonnen believes so.
“I do believe (St-Pierre) will be back. It will be against Conor in what will be the biggest fight in MMA history,” Sonnen, now fighting for Bellator MMA, said recently on his “Beyond The Fight” podcast of St-Pierre’s next fight. “I know that Georges would do it — he’s made that clear — and I also know contrary to what some fans will say about, ‘Well, what weight class? You can only ask Conor to go up so much,’ Georges will go down (in weight).”
Of course, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. McGregor, who faced Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match last August, hasn’t fought in UFC since defeating Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight championship at UFC 205 in November 2016. And St-Pierre, who defeated Michael Bisping for the middleweight championship at UFC 217 in November 2017 after nearly four years away from MMA, vacated his title in December amid a battle with ulcerative colitis. There’s a great deal of uncertainty surrounding both fighters, not to mention the size difference, although Sonnen doesn’t anticipate that being a problem.
“Now that it has come out that Conor has talked to (UFC president) Dana (White) and wanting to do a 165-pound fight, Georges will go down to 165. I’ll speak for him, I’ll tell you he for sure will,” Sonnen said. “I’m not speaking for him, he shared that with me, but I will pass that along. He will go to 165 if it means Conor.”
McGregor and St-Pierre are two of the biggest stars in UFC history. Each might have other options — McGregor could fight the winner of next month’s Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov showdown or even Nate Diaz, while St-Pierre could explore the “legacy” fight he supposedly wants or retire — but the fact remains: A McGregor vs. GSP clash would result in a huge payday for both fighters.
“If Conor doesn’t have the belt, and George wants to come back, and George only wants to come back for Conor, and they both want to do this legacy and all this other … a check, guys,” Sonnen said. “That’s what you’re getting on this. Forget about how we think about you in the future, let’s talk about tonight. That’s the fight.”
Which begs the question: Who ya got?
