2. Georges St. Pierre
UFC Welterweight Champion, 2008-2013Sherdog's second greatest fighter ever pound-for-pound is runner-up here as well, and unique to this list, St. Pierre’s second run as UFC welterweight champ ended with him walking away on top, surrendering his belt neither in the cage nor the testing lab. Winning the interim UFC welterweight title with a brutal beatdown of former champion Matt Hughes in December 2007, and then demolishing Matt Serra, the man who had ended his first title reign, with ground-and-pound to prompt a second-round stoppage to regain his undisputed crown in 2008, “GSP” proceeded to defend his newly recovered belt nine straight times.
St. Pierre was in his prime during this period, showcasing fantastic wrestling, outstanding ground-and-pound and top game, tireless cardio, seamless transitions from striking to wrestling, and very good stand-up. Other highlights during his reign include forcing B.J. Penn's corner to throw in the towel after the fourth round in the UFC's first champion-versus-champion showdown, and one-sided, dominant decisions over excellent challengers in Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Carlos Condit, and former Strikeforce champions Nick Diaz and Jake Shields. Truthfully, St. Pierre's last win over Johny Hendricks is one that most people, myself included, felt he should have lost. Still, it was his only close fight of that period and even had he lost, his second title reign would have likely finished very high on this list.
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