GEORGES ST-PIERRE has revealed UFC president Dana White offered him a super-fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov after blocking him from boxing Oscar De La Hoya.
The former two-division champion, who retired from MMA in February 2018, was on course to box The Golden Boy before White vetoed the bout.
White blocked the fight as St-Pierre is still under contract with the UFC, but the veteran promoter attempted to make up for the missed payday with a historic clash with Nurmagomedov.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, St-Pierre said: “And at first he refused.
“Then he thought about it but he came back with the argument that, oh, no, it’s not because he thinks Oscar is going to win; he thinks it’s because he doesn’t like the fact that Triller takes me and makes money off my back while I’m still under contract with UFC.
“So what Dana says — listen to this — then he came back and he asked me if I wanted to fight Khabib.
“And I told Dana, I said, ‘That’s very strange. Why didn’t you want to do the fight when we asked you a few years ago? Why is it now?’
“He said, ‘Yeah, because Khabib was not retired and he was not the same guy that he was. Now it all makes sense.’
“So I didn’t want to, but I was curious to see what would’ve happened, so I said to him, ‘I’m going to think about it,’ and I waited.
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“Turns out that, shortly after, I saw in the media people saying that, oh, now Khabib, he doesn’t want to fight me because I asked for the fight with Khabib.
“I never asked for the fight with Khabib. It’s Dana White that probably went to Khabib and [his manager] Ali Abdelaziz and told them that Georges wants to fight Khabib.
“We asked a long time ago, but I didn’t ask again. I didn’t beg for that fight again. We’re both retired and I’m good.”
St-Pierre went to great lengths to try and land a big payday against De La Hoya, phoning former UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta.
The 40-year-old admitted: “I even called Lorenzo to try to convince Dana.
“Lorenzo liked the idea, but Dana did not want it. I knew he hates Oscar but I said to him, ‘Listen, I’m going to make Oscar look bad because I’m in great shape.
“I’ve been staying in great shape the whole time and I’m going to do a full boxing training camp with Freddie Roach and his world champions there, so I’ll be very well prepared.’
“At first he says to me that the reason why he did not want it is because he thought that Oscar would basically destroy me in a boxing match.
“And I had some good arguments — I told him that I believe Oscar has more mileage than I do, he’s no longer in his prime, I stayed busy the whole time, I’m still in great shape, I’m going to be very well prepared and I’m taking this fight very seriously.
“If I do it, because it’s my name — my image is attached to it — I will do it 100 per cent.
“And I told Dana, I said, ‘If there’s one MMA fighter that can go to boxing and look good in this situation, it would be me.’”
De La Hoya’s wish to face a former UFC champion was granted when ex-light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort signed on the dotted line.
The pair, 48 and 44 respectively, will face one another on September 11 in the main event of Triller’s latest boxing card.
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