Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Welterweights

1. Georges St. Pierre

The man widely considered to be the greatest fighter ever was yet another unanimous top pick in this series. This should come as no surprise; “GSP” consistently faced the most difficult opponents imaginable for his era, ones 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. This 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. It's an insane opponent to start with, but St. Pierre finished him with punches in the first round. St. Pierre's UFC debut occurred when he was only 5-0 and 22 years old, and he faced a Top 10 welterweight in Karo Parisyan. A considerable underdog, St. Pierre did what he would throughout his career: he absolutely dominated.

After stopping fellow undefeated Canadian Jay Hieron in less than 2 minutes with punches, St. Pierre challenged reigning welterweight champion and perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, the legendary Matt Hughes. Did I mention this was within the same year he had debuted in the organization? This hill proved too much for even St. Pierre to climb, and he lost by submission. This only fueled the young contender further, and after sensational, dominant wins over elite contenders in Dave Strasser, Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, and Sean Sherk, as well as a split decision over fellow all-time legend B.J. Penn which is still hotly debated to this day, St. Pierre knocked out Hughes in their rematch to win the welterweight championship, already cementing himself as perhaps the greatest fighter in the sport.

After a shocking knockout loss to Matt Serra which actually wasn't as big back then as it is now in retrospect, St. Pierre would never lose again, dominating a slew of greats, including previous inclusions on this list; Josh Koscheck twice, another one-sided beating of Hughes, decimating Serra and Penn in rematches, annihilations of Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, and a close decision over Carlos Condit. His last title defense against Johny Hendricks was controversial, with most, myself included, believing St. Pierre deserved the loss, but when one is consistently facing the very best, this is bound to happen. It happened less with St. Pierre than any other fighter, even other candidates for greatest ever, like Jon Jones. After retiring for years, St. Pierre shockingly resurfaced in 2016 to challenge the much larger UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping at a weight class he had never fought in. It seemed insane despite the perception that Bisping was a very weak champion, but the St. Pierre once again proved his greatness, finishing off the Englishman in the third round. Thus, he ended his UFC career on a perfect streak of 13-0, 11 of those for undisputed titles, and as a bonus, pissed off Dana White by refusing to come back for more megafights after the Bisping triumph.

Despite having no amateur background, St. Pierre became one of the very best wrestlers in the history of the sport, and his double-leg takedown in particular might be MMA’s finest ever. He mixed this with outstanding jiu-jitsu, top control, relentless and vicious ground-and-pound, and endless cardio to make him a nightmare to grapple with. For the rare wrestlers accomplished enough to do so, like Koscheck and Fitch, St. Pierre also had very good stand-up, especially for his time, including a beautiful jab and powerful kicks. It will be a colossal challenge for any future champion to take this spot from him.