'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
2021 has been a remarkable year for UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has defended his title three times, defeating Gilbert Burns, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington.
Kamaru Usman is clearly a great champion, but will he ever be able to edge ahead of former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre in the discussion over who is the greatest 170lber of all time?
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ may be able to pull this off in the future, but for now, the truth is that GSP remains ahead of him in that conversation. With that considered, here are five reasons why Georges St-Pierre is still ahead of Kamaru Usman in the UFC welterweight GOAT conversation.
#5. Kamaru Usman has not yet matched Georges St-Pierre’s record of UFC title defenses
The most obvious reason why Kamaru Usman remains behind Georges St-Pierre in the conversation around who is the UFC’s welterweight GOAT is a simple one. It centers around the number of title defenses achieved.
Kamaru Usman claimed the UFC welterweight title when he defeated Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in March 2019. In the two-and-a-half years that have followed, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has made a total of five successful title defenses, turning back the challenges of Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal.
In contrast, Georges St-Pierre held the title for a far longer period, from April 2008 to November 2013. He made a total of nine successful defenses.
Could Usman surpass St-Pierre’s number of title defenses at some point in the future? It is possible. However, the fact that he’s already 34 years old is somewhat worrying. Usman is seemingly in his prime now, but realistically, he could suffer a major slide at any time.
By contrast, St-Pierre was already well into his first retirement at the same age that Usman is now and was obviously far younger during the peak of his title reign.
Based on his current trajectory, averaging two fights a year since winning the title, Usman could theoretically match GSP’s amount of defenses in late 2023. That’d make him nearly 37 years old. The likelihood of him still being at the top of his game at that stage seems slim, if not impossible.
That may still happen, of course, but for now, given that he has four fewer successful defenses than GSP, Kamaru Usman must sit behind the Canadian in any GOAT discussion.
#4. The UFC welterweight division was stronger in Georges St-Pierre’s day
Another reason is the gulf in class between Kamaru Usman's welterweight division and Georges St-Pierre's. Traditionally, along with lightweight, the UFC’s welterweight division has always been one of the promotion’s deeper weight classes.
Where divisions such as heavyweight and light heavyweight have seen peaks and troughs over the years, the standard of welterweights in the UFC has remained remarkably high, but never more so than during the period in which Georges St-Pierre dominated.
GSP was forced to face off with a variety of incredibly dangerous fighters during his UFC career. Some of his opponents, names like Matt Hughes, Jon Fitch and Carlos Condit, would also be considered amongst the UFC’s greatest-ever welterweights.
The fact that St-Pierre was able to hold onto the UFC welterweight title for such a lengthy period of time whilst facing nothing but top-level opponents is a feat largely unmatched by any UFC fighter.
Naturally, that includes Kamaru Usman. The UFC’s welterweight division is not in bad shape right now by any means, but it’s certainly arguable that it was stronger in GSP’s day.
For instance, where St-Pierre largely fought a fresh contender each time out, usually because newer fighters were rising up to knock off his previous victims, Kamaru Usman has been forced to rematch both Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington despite beating them both previously.
The fact that fighters such as Stephen Thompson and Neil Magny remain ranked in the top 10 despite being on the downswing of their careers basically sums up that 170 pounds with Kamaru Usman at the top isn’t quite as strong a division as it was back in GSP’s day.
Overall, Georges St-Pierre arguably knocked off the toughest list of contenders ever seen in the UFC, something that Kamaru Usman, despite his achievements, can’t match right now.
#3. Georges St-Pierre was more dominant over his opponents than Kamaru Usman
Georges St-Pierre often came under criticism for his failure to finish his opponents during his run as UFC welterweight champion. The only finish he pulled off during his nine-fight title run came against B.J. Penn in January 2009. All of his other foes were beaten by decision.
However, to use this as a stick to beat the Canadian with would be ludicrous. Sure, GSP wasn’t a finishing machine, but it’s safe to say that he thoroughly dominated his opponents, often making it look easy in the process.
During his title reign, it’s arguable that no fighter really took a round from him until Carlos Condit in his seventh defense. Realistically, the only man to really push him to a close decision was Johny Hendricks in what was GSP’s final fight at welterweight.
Kamaru Usman is undoubtedly a better finisher than St-Pierre at this stage. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has finished three of his last five bouts via knockout. His finish of Jorge Masvidal was more devastating than anything St-Pierre produced in his entire career.
However, Kamaru Usman is almost certainly not as dominant as GSP was in his prime. He was dropped in his title defense against Gilbert Burns, struggled to deal with Masvidal in their first fight and was taken to his limit by Colby Covington in both of his fights with him.
Kamaru Usman has always found a way to win thus far, something that should mark him out as a truly great champion. However, he hasn’t been quite as dominant as St-Pierre was, which works as another mark for the Canadian in the conversation around who the welterweight GOAT is.
#2. Georges St-Pierre defeated multiple generations of fighters
This is perhaps the most impressive thing Georges St-Pierre has over Kamaru Usman. During the Canadian's UFC welterweight title reign, he essentially defeated multiple generations of fighters along the way.
Prior to becoming champion, GSP basically knocked off all of the big names from the generation before his own, the likes of Matt Hughes, Frank Trigg and Sean Sherk. Once he became champion, the majority of his early defenses came against fighters who’d entered the UFC at a similar time to him, names such as Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck.
By 2010, though, a new breed of welterweights had entered the octagon, often from rival promotions such as Strikeforce and WEC. Even then, their best fighters, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and Johny Hendricks, were unable to unseat the Canadian from his throne.
Basically, if you were to make a list of the greatest welterweights to enter the UFC from 2000 through to 2013, GSP probably holds a win over them.
To be fair, Kamaru Usman’s record is extensive in its own right. Like GSP, he spent his early years knocking off a number of previous stars in the division such as Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley. At this stage, though, Kamaru Usman's defenses are still coming against fighters of his own generation like Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns.
To match what GSP was able to achieve, not only will Kamaru Usman have to turn back the challenge of the next generation, names like Khamzat Chimaev, but stick around to fight even after that, too.
At the age of 34, it’s simply unlikely that Kamaru Usman will be physically capable of such a thing. If he pulls it off, then he probably deserves the GOAT status, but for now, it still belongs with St-Pierre.
#1. Georges St-Pierre transcended the UFC in a way that Kamaru Usman may not be able to
When it comes to being recognized as the greatest of all time, in-ring skills are obviously important, but it’s probably fair to give at least some stead to a fighter’s status outside of competition too. Lennox Lewis, for instance, arguably has a superior fight record to Mike Tyson, but is often considered behind him in a list of great heavyweight boxers purely because of Tyson’s impact on popular culture outside of the ring.
In this sense, Kamaru Usman is lagging miles behind Georges St-Pierre. Sure, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is popular with UFC fans and often draws major crowd reactions for his fights. Kamaru Usman even headlined a show, UFC 251, that reportedly drew over a million buys on pay-per-view.
However, Kamaru Usman is simply not on the same level as St-Pierre when it comes to star power. Not only was GSP responsible for some of the UFC’s biggest pay-per-views during his period as champion, but it’s probably safe to say that without his impact, Canadian MMA would not be where it is today.
Prior to St-Pierre’s rise, the sport was an underground one at best in his home country. After his rise to stardom in the UFC, though, it took off big time.
Not only did Canada end up producing far more top-level fighters, but it became a hotbed for the UFC to visit. In fact, UFC 129, headlined by St-Pierre’s fight with Jake Shields, drew a live crowd of 55,724, setting a UFC record that has only been beaten twice in the decade since.
None of this would’ve been possible were it not for GSP’s impact and the fact that he is now recognized as one of the most popular athletes in Canada’s history says it all.
Essentially, it’s unlikely that Kamaru Usman will ever make the kind of cultural impact that St-Pierre was able to do and thus he’s doomed to remain behind him in the conversation around the UFC’s welterweight GOAT.
