Georges St-Pierre retires: was he the greatest MMA fighter of all-time?
- He dominated the UFC for more than a decade, and only lost two fights in his whole career
- Where does he rank among the other MMA greats?
While he has now ridden off into the Quebec sunset, Canadian UFC legend Georges St-Pierre has invariably reignited the G.O.A.T. conversation within MMA circles.
The 37-year-old announced his retirement today to little spectacle, something that defined his legacy: St-Pierre was always one to let his performance in the octagon do the talking.
His last fight, against Michael Bisping at UFC 217 back in November 2017 was once again a showcase of his immense physical and technical talents. St-Pierre, who did no trash talking and lots of polite smiling in the lead up to the event, clinically dispatched the baiting, underwhelming Bisping in three rounds at Madison Square Garden to take the UFC Middleweight Championship.
But those who follow the UFC noticed something Bisping did, commenting that St-Pierre “didn’t hit me that hard”. His roaring, lion heart didn’t seem to be in the ring, and in a post-fight interview, face bloodied and bruised, the star admitted he had some “stuff” going on in his life. The fight would be the Saint-Isidore, Quebec, native’s last, capping off a remarkable career that saw him dominate his division for more than a decade.
Rumours circulated around St-Pierre, from the health of his father to an apparent unplanned pregnancy. Alas, it seemed life outside of the ring was once again starting to drag on the quiet champion who was famously bullied through adolescence. His rumoured return, once again, to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov will now go down as one of the greatest UFC fights never to happen.
That said, his soft exit from the sport does nothing to diminish his greatness.
His 26-2 record is remarkable given the opponents he beat, sometimes on more than one occasion (B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra and Nick Diaz). Although he lost his first title fight to Hughes back in 2004, two years later he beat the American to nab his first welterweight title, only to lose it the next fight to Serra.
This crushing disappointment and storybook comeback turned into one of the greatest UFC runs of all time, as he won the interim belt later than year, again against Hughes, and then got revenge against Serra to unify the belt in 2008.
Then it became the St-Pierre era, as 2007 would become the last fight he would ever lose. He would make nine title defences against a slew of fighters who seemed both destined and hand-picked to dethrone him.
So where does he rank on the all-time greats list?
St-Pierre, is tied for first for number of title fights and tops the minutes accrued in title fights. He had the second most pay-per-view main events, tied for second overall in wins and has the most title fight wins of all-time.
He also has the third longest winning streak, coming during the UFC golden era when ratings were at their peak and the sport’s spotlight shone the brightest. But what makes St-Pierre the greatest of all-time is the fashion in which achieved this.
He is the antithesis of Conor McGregor’s verbal diarrhoea, and squeaky clean when stacked against fighters like Jon Jones who can’t seem to keep any illegal substance out of their bloodstream.
St-Pierre was remarkably cerebral, philosophical and drew a sense of nostalgia to the old days of fighting where humbleness outranked ego. He regularly commended opponents’ prowess in pre-fight interviews, only to rag-doll them like younger siblings in the octagon.
The 2014 documentary on him, Takedown: The DNA of GSP, offers one of the most complete looks into his mindset. The warrior is not an enviable occupation, rather a cause or calling. Violence is a tool, not a weapon, and fighting is catharsis, not antagonistic.
Other fighters, like Anderson Silva, Jones or Ukranian born Russian great Fedor Emelianenko displayed similar prowess inside the octagon during their own reigns of terror.
But while Silva seems cunning and snakelike, Jones feels like a playboy squandering God-gifted talent and Emelianenko was probably just born a bit too early to fully command the sport during it’s heyday, St-Pierre comes across as genuine, if not a bit too “aw shucks” at moments.
If this is his biggest fault, his inability to shout from atop the rafters, a case for the greatest of all-time seems open and shut. If, St-Pierre is not the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time, then who is? Bruce Lee?
Well, that’s a debate for another day. Until then, give the Canuck his due and hand the man his crown.
