The Official Retirement of Georges St. Pierre Has Many People Asking the Question… Is He the Greatest UFC Fighter of All Time?
The legend that is ‘Rush’ will never step into an octagon as a fighter again. His initials – nevermind his name – are synonymous with mixed martial arts. Georges St. Pierre remains a legendary figure in the sport and no wonder. His achievements are absolutely phenomenal.
Indeed, many fans believe that he is the greatest UFC fighter of all time. There’s a very strong argument to be made in support of this. His title successes, his clean drug testing record, and his profile as a role model within the sport combine to put him up there as one of the best ever.
Let’s compare ‘Rush’ to his rivals for the crown as the UFC’s GOAT. Honourable mentions have to go out to the likes of Royce Gracie – an icon but not the greatest fighter, Khabib Nurmagamedov – a potential future candidate, and Chuck Liddell for helping to drive the sport into the mainstream. However, for talent, success and skill levels, they’re not in the same league as GSP and the fighters below.
Jon Jones
One of the most obvious rivals to St. Pierre is Jon Jones. The four-time light-heavyweight champion has never lost a championship fight, and only has one defeat on his record, to Matt Hammill, after he was disqualified. His talent and skills have never been in doubt. He is also one half of what is arguably the most legendary rivalry in the UFC, with Daniel Cormier.
The difficulty with calling Jones the GOAT is, of course, those drug test failures. Despite his successes inside the cage, he’s now got an asterisk beside his name. He’s lucky though that he’s still just 31 years old. If he moves up to heavyweight and becomes a double champion, then it will be very difficult to deny him GOAT status. That could define his legacy.
Demetrious Johnson
‘Mighty Mouse’ holds the record for the most title defences in UFC history, with a remarkable eleven. He cleared out the flyweight division and before Henry Cejudo defeated him in a narrow decision – that many fans believe could have gone the other way – nobody had an answer for his unbelievable skills.
Before his move to ONE, Johnson had effectively cleared out the flyweight division. That’s his biggest problem though: his lack of serious competition and the fact that western audiences just don’t see a fighter as light as Johnson as being GOAT material. That might not be fair on him, but it’s just a fact.
Anderson Silva
Despite falling short against Israel Adesanya recently in Melbourne, Silva won back a lot of the goodwill that he carried through his career. The most successful middleweight in the history of the sport, ‘The Spider’s’ dynamic movement and striking made him incredibly exciting to watch.
Unfortunately, like Jones, he also has PED test failures on his record. His recent decline doesn’t help either. One win in his last seven fights has seriously tarnished his record.
‘Rush’
It’s difficult not to conclude then that Georges St. Pierre is the UFC’s greatest fighter. He’s the only one of these listed fighters to have won belts in two classes – welterweight and middleweight. GSP has been clean the entire way through his career, even if he only fought once after the introduction of USADA.
He still holds the record for the most title defences in welterweight history, with 9, defeating a whole list of dangerous fighters on the way. Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, BJ Penn, Matt Serra, Matt Hughes, and Michael Bisping are just some of the names on his record. Even when he lost, he still came back stronger. He also retired at the top – not like Anderson Silva, going out with a win streak of 13 straight victories.
Now that’s GOAT material.
