2. Georges St. Pierre
The stellar “GSP” finishes second and received two first-place votes, the same as Johnson. Personally, he was third for me. St. Pierre’s run of championship greatness established a gold standard for the sport, and he himself was the prototype for a slew of future elite contenders and champions. Despite having no amateur wrestling background, St. Pierre became one of the very best grapplers in the history of the sport, with perhaps its very best double-leg shot. He mixed this with outstanding Brazilian jiu-jitsu, top control, relentless and vicious ground-and-pound, and endless cardio to make him a nightmare to grapple with. But for the elite MMA wrestlers who could do so, like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, St. Pierre also had very good stand-up, especially for his time, including a beautiful jab and powerful kicks. St. Pierre consistently faced the most difficult opponents imaginable for his era, who were often legends themselves and meant to challenge or even expose him, only for the French-Canadian to finish the night having thoroughly dominated and embarrassed them. It began with his very first professional fight in 2002 against Ivan Menjivar, then 4-0 but later a talented UFC bantamweight and featherweight contender as late as 2012. Moreover, “GSP” finished his career on a 13-fight win streak, with 11 of those coming in championship bouts. So why do I only have him third? Well, I don't think it's any shame to be considered inferior to Johnson and Aldo, but I did have two small nitpicks. For one, there were a few more hiccups and blips with St. Pierre than the two lighter champions. I felt B.J. Penn beat St. Pierre in their first fight, and so did Johny Hendricks in GSP's last welterweight appearance. And then, of course, there was the knockout defeat to Matt Serra, a bad upset loss that Aldo and Johnson lack. And while St. Pierre was a very good striker, as noted, he wasn't great, and it was an area opponents could and did exploit. Again, those are the smallest criticisms of an incredible, legendary career that established a new gold standard in the sport. But that's how critical one has to be when deciding the very greatest fighter in the sport's history.
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