“Georges St-Pierre was never my friend.”
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO, Dana White’s, infamous quote in response to the firing of notable cutman, Jacob “Stitch” Duran, feels fitting for any Welterweight all-time great conversation. Since former 170-pound champion, Kamaru Usman, concluded his five-defense title reign in August 2022, he’s taken the mantle as the very best the division’s ever seen, according to White.
“The inmates do not run the asylum here. We push you guys,” White said to Usman and Henry Cejudo on Pound 4 Pound. “We push you, we push you, we push you, and we make this f—king fight. We get this fight made, right? What that does is these fights that — if you look at the way boxing is done, these guys try to steer clear of the tough fights so that you can make more money, make more money and be 57-0 with f—king 57 knockouts and all that s—t. Most of the records are padded, and it’s all bulls—t.
“You become a f—king world champion in the UFC, you went through death f—king row of the baddest motherf—kers in the sport in your division that you can possibly fight,” he continued. “So, when you talk about a Kamaru Usman, who went through ‘em f—king twice, you might not like Kamaru. You might not like whatever it is you don’t like about him, but you cannot f—king deny that he’s the greatest Welterweight of all time. You can’t deny it.”
Usman’s title reign saw him score wins over Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington, and Gilbert Burns, with the first two falling twice to the “Nigerian Nightmare.” Ultimately, Usman ran into a past opponent, Leon Edwards, in their UFC 278 rematch. After a solid previous three rounds that led into the fifth and final, Usman (20-4) was stopped by a last-minute Hail Mary head kick knockout (watch highlights). He’d lose by majority decision in his two fights that have followed, first in his trilogy against Edwards before his short-notice Middleweight debut vs. Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023. Usman was 15-0 in UFC (19-0 overall) until his first Edwards defeat.
To compare, Usman’s current three-fight losing skid is the opposite of St-Pierre’s career conclusion. The Canadian icon finished his run in the sport on a 13-fight unbeaten streak (26-2) that was capped off by a Middleweight title win and nine Welterweight title defenses. Across St-Pierre’s two reigns as champion, he avenged his lone two losses to Matt Serra and Matt Hughes with finish victories. “Rush” had three rematches in title defenses but never fought the same opponent twice during a title reign, like Usman. Overall, St-Pierre went 13-2 in UFC title fights (one at Middleweight and one interim).
Despite watching the entirety of St-Pierre’s legendary, White doesn’t see it as better than Usman’s.
“Listen, don’t like Kamaru all you want,” White said. “Whatever you don’t like about him, that’s your f—king deal. You can’t f—king deny it.”