Kevin Lee details one-hour phone call with Georges St-Pierre: ‘I tried to pick a fight with him’

Bloodyelbow.com

It would be a career-defining moment for Kevin Lee to step into the Octagon against Georges St-Pierre, and ‘The Motown Phenom’ is still hoping his dream will one day become a reality, this despite GSP retiring from MMA competition this past February.

Lee is so eager to fight St-Pierre that, earlier this year, the former interim lightweight title challenger had an hour-long phone conversation with ‘Rush’ in an attempt to negotiate a potential welterweight bout with the pound-for-pound great.

Lee described the phone call in a recent interview with Joe Rogan.

“I wanted to fight him (St-Pierre), because going into it, win lose or draw, I’m going to learn something from this motherf—ker,” Lee said on the latest episode of the Joe Rogan “One, he’s going to know he was in a fight. I’m going to show up, I’m going to give him all I’ve got. [And] I knew, just for the future, a fight like that would propel you.”

“I tried to pick a fight with him, and he called me and we talked for over an hour and he was explaining it to me… there’s risk and reward and I’m the type, I like taking a big risk. I want that date with him, but we’ll see how it all pans out.”

Despite GSP officially hanging up the gloves, many believe the former two-division champion will come out of retirement for a superfight against Khabib Nurmagomedov should ‘The Eagle’ successfully unify the lightweight titles against newly-crowned interim champ Dustin Poirier at UFC 242.

Speaking of the potential matchup, Lee said Khabib will probably retire if he beats St-Pierre, cementing his legacy as one of the all-time greats.

“If Khabib beats George, I think he’s going to retire. I think Khabib only has a few fights left in him. I don’t think he wants to fight for a long time. He’s undefeated, he smashes everybody and I think he’ll go down as one of the greatest that ever did it.”

Lee last fought earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 152, losing to former lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos via fourth-round submission.

UFC 242, which will feature Khabib vs. Poirier as the headlining attraction, takes place later this year, Sept. 7 at du Arena in Abu Dhabi.