Georges St-Pierre is regarded by many as one of the greatest fighter of all-time but for him, such accolade does not exist in the world of mixed martial arts.
A former welterweight and middleweight titlist in the Ultimate Figting Championship, St-Pierre’s name is on top of the conversation when talking about the ‘MMA GOAT.’
He last fought at UFC 217, where he submitted Michael Bisping on his middleweight debut to capture another UFC gold and extend his winning streak to 13 fights.
In February 2019, he decided to retire from sports while he’s on top of the world, finishing his illustrious career with an incredible 26-2 record.
The French-Canadian legend recently spoke to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani and gave his honest take on the ‘GOAT’ debate.
“I don’t think there is nobody that is the greatest. Let me explain that to you. There is three guys, right? This guy will beat [that] guy, [that] guy will beat [the other] guy, and [the other] guy will beat this guy. That’s how it is in this game,” he said.
Matter Of Timing
For St-Pierre, there is no concept of invincibility in the sport and it is only a matter of time a certain fighter will get beaten by a better opponent.
“It’s just a matter of timing. Everybody can beat everybody on any given day. You make a fight against a top guy 10 times, the guy will probably not win it 10 times.”
“Depending on the situation, he might win nine out of the 10. And style makes fights, too. There are guys that have your number – you don’t know why. In the fight game, it’s not a straight line.”
“When I was young, I wanted to be the best of all time but when I got older and had more experience, I realized it’s just a fugazi – it doesn’t exist. You cannot be the best fighter on the planet.”
An Illussion
St-Pierre said being a champion doesn’t put any fighter on top of the roster and he realized that becoming the best guy in the sport is only an illusion.
“There will always be one guy that will beat you. I know some people say, ‘No that’s not true’ but if you train with many different training partners, with different people, you’ll find out it’s true.”
“There’s guys better than you maybe who are not fighting but if you fight them in the gym you’ll see they are gonna beat you. It’s like that. That’s how the world works. There’s no better guy.”
“There will always be one guy that will have your number, will beat you. That’s how it is. There is no better guy. Any given day, one guy will be better than the other.”
“When you fight a guy and you’re champion, you’re champion because you only beat that guy, that night.”
“It doesn’t give you the right to put you above all the rest of the roster. That’s how most people see it but that’s not how I see it, myself, right now. Before that’s how I used to think but now I realize it’s all an illusion.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones)