UFC: Georges St-Pierre Reveals His MMA GOAT
When it comes to that popular debate about who’s the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, Georges St-Pierre often finds himself at the top of the list. However, the former two-division UFC champion, who is about to be introduced into the UFC Hall of Fame this year, has a different person in mind.
Georges St-Pierre’s GOAT
Speaking to TMZ Sports, GSP revealed who is the GOAT in his opinion, and explained the criteria behind his reasoning.
“The GOAT for me has different signification,” St-Pierre said. “For me it’s Royce Gracie, because Royce Gracie is the one that really changed the sport. He changed the entire belief system of what a real fight is. So I think Royce Gracie is there. Jon Jones is there, I believe Jon Jones right now in modern day era is like the best guy. There’s also Khabib [Nurmagomedov] that could be there. There’s a lot of guys, but one guy that I for sure would put there is Royce Gracie, there is no doubt about it.
“And we should never forget the guy who were there before us,” GSP continued. “We should never forget about these guys. Like [Albert] Einstein said, ‘We stand on shoulders of giants’, they paved the way for us. And now with internet we have access to information that is much easier than it was back in the day.
“Now I can learn an armbar with a guy who’s in Australia teaching it on my cell phone. Before it was not like that, I had to go and physically be there in a room. I drove to New York and learned jiu jitsu at Renzo Gracie Academy. It’s a total different ball game.”
‘It’s Not The Fighters Who Are Getting Better’
The 39-year-old doesn’t think that fighters are necessarily getting better, but rather that there are other factors that are pushing the sport forward.
“I don’t believe fighters are better, I believe technology is better,” St-Pierre said. “I mean athletes are not better today than they were before. The technology and the knowledge and access is better.
“That’s why the fighters are better,” he continued. “It’s not because they’re a better person, they’re not, they’re the same. They just have access easier, they have more knowledge than they had in the past.”
From Competing To Coaching
As he is now retired from competition, and isn’t considering making a comeback, GSP is more dedicated to coaching other people than ever before.
“It’s a lot of fun, especially when you do it and you have a very wide audience. You know because you’re teaching now only for one person, you try to make it as general as possible, and to please everybody. So I’m teaching some very basic fundamentals, and also more advanced stuff for people that are already experienced in martial arts, of course.
St-Pierre explained how every person is unique, so his coaching approach differs according to that fact as well.
“I believe that everybody is different, and that everybody has different strengths. I never tried to teach people the way I do things. When I teach people, I try to see what they are good at, and to teach them things that can serve them, the best I can.
“You know, so these things that work for me, will might not work for other people and vice versa. So everybody is very unique, everybody has different predisposition, different skills, and you need to find a way to exploit those skills.”
Georges St-Pierre last competed in 2017, when he beat Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to win the middleweight title. And in doing so, became only the fourth fighter in UFC history to be crowned a two division champion. Royce Gracie was the tournament winner at UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4, and is credited for revolutionising MMA.
Who is your the GOAT?
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