Ben Askren feels Georges St-Pierre could make his return to professional mixed martial arts competition.
Askren hasn’t been shy in calling out a slew of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) athletes before making his promotional debut. One of those fighters is St-Pierre. Askren has called for a bout at 165 pounds with St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov. St-Pierre announced his retirement from MMA competition last week.
Ben Askren Speaks On GSP’s Retirement
During a UFC 235 media luncheon, Askren told reporters that he feels St-Pierre could eventually make his return (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I don’t feel like he set a hard line in the sand. I felt like he set the door open if something interests him in the future. I always tell him, ‘Hey, GSP, Tyron [Woodley] hits pretty hard, but I don’t hit that hard. So if you want to fight me instead of him, it’s perfectly fine.’”
Even St-Pierre’s longtime coach Firas Zahabi believes that “Rush” would be enticed to fight again with the right offer. As it stands now, St-Pierre leaves the sport with a record of 26-2. He’s captured gold twice at welterweight and once at middleweight.
Askren is set to make his UFC debut this Saturday night (March 2). He’ll meet former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler on the main card of UFC 235. MMA News will provide live coverage of the event.
Do you think GSP should fight again, or stay retired?
