UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been angling for a fight with former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre for a long time. Even now that St-Pierre is retired, the lightweight champ remains interested in the matchup. He’d even be willing to accept the fight on St-Pierre’s home turf in Montreal.

“Can you imagine if this happened in Montreal,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “[They have] 55,000 [seats] — like a stadium. Or in Moscow, [they have] 80,000 at a big stadium in Moscow.”

“I think this fight has to happen in Canada or Russia,” he continued. “We can sell out a stadium, 100%.”

So far, there has been very little progress toward a potential fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre. Yet Nurmagomedov is optimistic it’s still possible based on the simple fact that he and St-Pierre have enough sway with the UFC to make their own decisions.

“Georges St-Pierre has big name, I am the champion,” he said. “Why not? We can do whatever we want. This is UFC, this is not NBA or soccer. This is UFC. We can do whatever we want because of the two names — me vs. Georges St-Pierre. We can do this. Dustin Poirier or Tony Ferguson, they can’t do this. Right now, this is my time. I can do this. If a guy builds a name and becomes a very big star, they can do this, like Conor [McGregor]did with [Floyd] Mayweather. When you have a big name, when your opponent have a big name, you guys are very popular, you guys can do whatever you want.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently gearing up for a title fight with interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier. His earning a potential fight with Georges St-Pierre would seem to hinge on his winning this imminent challenge.

Do you think Nurmagomedov and St-Pierre will fight in the future?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/30/2019.