George St-Pierre proclaims the MMA GOAT: “For me, it’s…”
Who does “GSP” see as the GOAT of MMA? The answer may surprise you…
The term GOAT (greatest of all time) gets used a lot in the sports world. While Michael Jordan is the consensus GOAT of basketball, it’s not quite as easy to find an equivalent in MMA. One fighter who constantly is brought up in the discussion regarding the MMA GOAT is former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre, of Montreal, Quebec. Were one to erect a Mount Rushmore of MMA, it’d be hard to exclude “GSP” from that, but there are other fighters that would be suitable beside the Canadian.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, St-Pierre revealed that he actually sees MMA and BJJ pioneer Royce Gracie as the greatest of all time.
“The GOAT for me, it has a different significance. For me, it’s Royce Gracie because Royce Gracie is the one who really changed the sport. He changed the entire belief system in what a real fight is. So I think Royce Gracie is there,” “GSP” said.
“Jon Jones is there. I believe that Jon Jones in the modern-day era is the best guy. There’s also Khabib who could be there. There’s a lot of guys.
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“But one guy who I would for sure put there is Royce Gracie, there’s no doubt about it. We should never forget about the guys who were there before us. We should never forget about these guys. It’s like Einstein says, we stand on the shoulders of giants. They paved the way for us.”
Gracie competed at the very first UFC event ever, winning the entire tournament and becoming a household name for MMA fans at the time.
St-Pierre retired early last year, following a long and successful career that involved him winning the welterweight title two times, and then ending his career having submitted Michael Bisping to win the middleweight title. Throughout his storied career he has defeated the likes of Matt Hughes, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz. Though retired, St-Pierre has expressed interest in returning for a chance to face undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, however that fight materialising seems unlikely.
