Bellator lightweight Mandel Nallo doesn’t think we’ll see former UFC champion and Tristar Gym teammate Georges St-Pierre come out of retirement anytime soon.
“Georges is always training but right now he’s working on other stuff,” Nallo told Cageside Press. “I think Georges could come back any day and be the man. He’s still my favorite fighter and I still think he had the best MMA career of all time. But as far as right now, I think he like, he’s just enjoying his life.”
Nallo (7-1) is set to return to the cage for the first time since October 2019 when he battles Saad Awad at Bellator 249. The 31-year-old is coming off the first loss of his career against Killys Mota at Bellator 231, where many believed he broke his ankle during the fight — but Nallo mentioned that wasn’t the case.
“It was the acute foot drop from your nerve getting hit in your leg,” Nallo explained. “It’s happened to a couple of guys. Most recently it happened to Sean O’Malley in the UFC. It’s just one of those things you really don’t factor it in. It looked worse than it was, I was walking around all night (after the fight) it was just really swollen.”
Awad (23-13) looks to stop a four-fight skid and drops back down to the lightweight division. The 37-year-old will be looking for his first victory since June 2018. From a style perspective, Nallo loves the match-up.
“I think it’s a great match-up,” Nallo said. “I think it’s one that people have seen a few times over the years of a guy with a ton of experience versus a relative unknown. It’s one of those things where he has 40-plus fights. So to a degree, I kind of know, his style. I know what he does, I think he’s easier to study up on than somebody like me, so, or even my last opponent, you know, I really didn’t know much about him. I knew he was a good fighter. That’s it. And this guy’s a good fighter too, but I just have a little more information. So that’s always a plus.”
Bellator 249 takes place on October 15 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Featherweight champion Cris Cyborg battles Arlene Blencowe in the main event.
