There is a strong argument for calling BJJ black belt and reigning UFC Middleweight Champion Georges St-Pierre the greatest of all time (GOAT). After all, not only did he reign atop the UFC’s welterweight mountain for years, but he came back after a four-year break from MMA to fight the champion in the weight class above his and become the new UFC Middleweight Champion via a third-round submission.
But does Georges St-Pierre think he’s the GOAT? That was the question posed to him by Ariel Helwani only an hour ago on a special Thursday edition of The MMA Hour.
Simply put, GSP does not think he is the greatest of all time because he does not believe there is such thing as a greatest of all time. For St-Pierre, it’s not about being the best fighter; it’s about being the best fighter when it counts.
“When I start fighting, when I was young, I remember I was young a little bit different up here,” GSP said, pointing to his temple. “I wanted to become the best fighter because I wanted to be the strongest man in the world. As life goes on, it taught me differently. There is no such thing as the strongest man in the world. It doesn’t exist. There’s no such thing as the greatest. You can be the best, but you can lose. For example, you can have the best football team, the best soccer team, or baseball team. It’s the best team, but it would lose to a team that’s not as good that night because that particular night they didn’t play the best game. So, the important in this sport [MMA] is not to be the best fighter, and there’s one thing that I’m very good at; I’m very good to be good when it count. That’s one of my best quality as a entertainer…as a performer. You know, you can call it an fighter, an entertainer. I’m very good to turn it on when it’s time to turn it on. That’s one of my best quality. There’s a lot of guys who are very good. But when it’s time to pull the trigger, they can’t do it.”
The fact that GSP managed to be the best that night seems to have been nothing short of a miracle. Not only did St-Pierre discuss his rough weight gain with Helwani, but he admitted to having some ring rust when it came to ground and pound, and to not always listening to his grappling coach, John Danaher.
You can watch GSP’s entire interview on The MMA Hour below.
