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#4. Kamaru Usman's stylistic transition
Prior to the Canadian's shocking matchup with Matt Serra at UFC 83, Georges St-Pierre was a consistent finisher inside the octagon. He was the owner of a 13-1 record, with only 2 of his wins coming by way of decision. However, upon suffering a knockout loss that no one could have predicted, 'GSP' underwent a stylistic change as a fighter. On the wrong end of one of the greatest upsets in UFC history, St-Pierre became a far more conservative fighter.
After fighting his way back to a title fight, the Canadian righted the wrong of his defeat to Serra by recapturing his welterweight title from his rival. St-Pierre would go on to fight 9 more times in the weight class, with 8 of his wins being decisions.
Kamaru Usman, by contrast, is the opposite. While the Nigerian was initially conservative, he too underwent a stylistic change. Instead of growing even more conservative, he became a finisher by knocking out opponents in brutal fashion en route to becoming the only fighter to KO/TKO Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal in UFC history. He has punctuated his wins with a level of finality that 'GSP' lacked in the second half of his career, all while edging towards the Canadian's title defense record.
#3. Kamaru Usman is the UFC's pound-for-pound best, 'GSP' never was
The reigning welterweight champion sits atop the MMA mountain as the best pound-for-pound fighter according to the UFC rankings. While St-Pierre is recognized as one of the greatest fighters of all time, he was never heralded as the No.1 pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Historically, the Canadian has always been outranked by other mixed martial artists such as Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.
Kamaru Usman, however, has been recognized as the UFC's pound-for-pound best fighter in the last two years. While 'GSP' was eclipsed by other fighters during his prime, Usman has been eclipsed by no one as 'The Nigerian Nightmare' is considered to be comfortably ahead of almost every single active UFC fighter, with only the current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski posing something of a threat to his ranking.
Thus, the longer Usman sits on the pound-for-pound throne, the stronger his legacy will be in comparison to 'GSP's'.
