Georges St-Pierre and Kamaru Usman are two of the greatest welterweights to ever lace up a pair of four-ounce gloves, but who would win if they somehow met in their primes?
This debate continues to heat up, as Usman defends his title during his four year tenure as UFC Welterweight Champion. And although it’s a question that will never truly be answered, the 41-year-old St-Pierre was always a master tactician in his heyday, so he’s given thought to how he’d approach a fight against MMA’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
“Usman is very skilled at chain wrestling,” St Pierre told James Lynch ., MMA reporter. He’s very skilled when his opponent is against the fence. Although he can do everything, he is very skilled and very proficient. His main focus in wrestling, however, is his ability to put his opponent against the fence, then work from there. My style was more about the movement. Moves and hit and run, so to speak. That was my game.
“My game was to take him down but I would use fakes, proactive and reactive takesdowns. If I had to fight him, I would have liked to try and put him on my back, since I have never seen him there. That would have been my strategy,” St.Pierre said.
” When someone appears stronger than everyone, there is a place you should attack. Sometimes their strength can be turned into a weak link. You never know what he is capable of. Nobody has ever exposed him there. There are some very skilled wrestlers. But once they get on their backs you never know what they will do. That’s why I tried that in a fight. Would I have won or lost? .”
will never be known.
St.Pierre is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding fighters of all time. The UFC Hall of Famer earned titles in two divisions and avenged the only two losses he suffered in his career. His nine consecutive title defenses from 2008-13 still stand as the third-longest streak of title defenses in UFC history.
Usman, on the other hand, is an undefeated 15-0 in his UFC career and holds the record for the longest win streak in UFC welterweight history. Since he won his belt with an impressive win over Tyron Whiteley in 2019., he has held it up five more times.
So in a hypothetical superfight scenario, does St-Pierre think he could’ve been the first welterweight to solve the puzzle “The Nigerian Nightmare” presents?
“I think so, because I’m a fighter and I’m kind of biased about my [skills], because there’s nobody that I fought that I wasn’t able to put down,” St-Pierre said with a smile. “I put everybody down. It’s an era and a time when guys can get better.
“So I don’t know. Usman is just fantastic. He’s the best right now.”
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