Innan UFC 229 talades det mycket om en potentiell match mellan 2 av de mest populära MMA-fighters genom tiderna, Georges St-Pierre och Conor McGregor. Det var en match som inte tycktes intressera McGregor mycket och den verkar än mer långsökt efter dennes match mot Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dock uttalade sig Georges St-Pierres tränare, Firas Zahabi, om hur han tror matchen mellan hans adept och McGregor sett ut.
Han uttalade sig som följande rapporterar bloodyelbow där han menade att det hade slutat ännu värre för McGregor än i matchen mot Nurmagomedov där ryssen dominerade irländaren på mattan och tillslut vann genom submission :
I think GSP would do much of the same, even more than what Khabib did. GSP has an explosive shot from the outside, and he understands — he has a better range. He has a longer range for his takedowns, a longer range for his striking.
His submissions and ground and pound and jiujitsu, it’s very similar to Khabib. They’re very strong wrestlers, but GSP can do it all from a longer range, further range.
And GSP is very familiar with what McGregor does, that karate, taekwondo, kickboxing hybrid style. That’s stuff we grew up with, so we know that very very well. We do a lot of that. We’re very familiar with those teeps, those counter lefts, very familiar with those kind of stuff.
Gällande en potentiell match mellan St-Pierre och Nurmagomedov, som verkar desto troligare då båda fighters markerat sitt intresse, så skulle detta bli en gigantisk fight:
Khabib (vs GSP) would be a mega fight. It would, definitely. If they did it for 155, or I’m hearing now a 165 lb title, that would make sense — or 170. Whatever it is, just those two names, would probably beat McGregor vs Khabib. Because of this win, Khabib now is going to be more famous than ever. Khabib is going to be the biggest name in the lightweight division for a while.