5 reasons why Georges St-Pierre is still ahead of Kamaru Usman in the UFC welterweight GOAT conversation

#2. Georges St-Pierre defeated multiple generations of fighters

Georges St-Pierre was dominant over multiple generations of UFC greats

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.

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#1. Georges St-Pierre transcended the UFC in a way that Kamaru Usman may not be able to

Georges St-Pierre transcended the sport of MMA, becoming a genuine Canadian icon

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.