Trainer believes Georges St-Pierre will fight in 2016

Georges St-Pierre's head trainer Firas Zahabi is fanning the flames of a comeback for the retired champion.

Asked to only respond with "yes or no" by Ariel Helwani on "The MMA Hour" on Monday, Zahabi humored Helwani by sharing his opinion on whether St-Pierre would come out of retirement before year's end.

"I would say yes, if I had to venture," Zahabi said. "Keep my comments in context though, OK. I would say yeah, he comes back in 2016. But again, there's no guarantee, I'm not confirming that, I'm not saying anything, I had to pick one.

"I think he's a motivated guy, I think he's in shape, and I think for him it's just the fight that excites him. It's what he needs."

Zahabi mentioned Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, and current welterweight champion Robbie Lawler as the kind of opponents that might be able to get GSP to drop everything he's doing and return to the cage.

St-Pierre's appearance at UFC 196 was also addressed by Zahabi. He assured Helwani that there was no plan for him to interact with either McGregor or Diaz, and he had originally planned the trip to see McGregor challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title (that fight was scrapped by a Dos Anjos foot injury).

If GSP chooses to fight again for the first time since November 2013, Zahabi predicts the news will come at an unexpected time.

"He's not retired and he's not in the game right now. He's living life a little bit." Zahabi said. "That's why he played it the way he did, it's honestly who he is and what he’s doing so he doesn't know.

"I personally think that he cannot stay away. I think he'll eventually get bit by the bug and he'll eventually do something spontaneous. That's just Georges.”

When Helwani hinted at a St-Pierre return in November at Madison Square Garden (pending the sport's legalization in the state of New York), Zahabi agreed it would be a neat idea if the timing worked out.

"Yeah, why not?"