Combat sports make it increasingly difficult to name the greatest of all time given the weight divisions in the sports.
UFC is no different, so we often get fans comparing fighters in a certain weight category to make it slightly easier to compare as they could have taken each other on and faced the same opponents.
One big debate in the UFC world is who is the better fighter between Georges St-Pierre (GSP) and Kamaru Usman.
Redditers have been discussing that very topic after a graphic was made comparing the two in a whole host of key categories, with the stats being pretty one sided.
They compare title defences, unique opponents during title reign, victories over UFC world champions, rounds fought, strikes absorbed and combined record of UFC opponents.
It kicks off with GSP having nine title defences to just five for Usman, meaning he retained his title much more and dominated for longer.
GSP
He also defended his crown against eight different opponents whereas Usman took on just the one. It’s an interesting metric to compare fighters, with it not necessarily meaning much about their ability.
Victories over UFC world champions makes interesting reading, with GSP having six to his name whilst Usman has just the two.
GSP has actually fought in more rounds with 62 vs 48 and then absorbing fewer strikes, 497 to 647 which is a surprise given he has been in more fights.
Kamaru Usman is the current UFC welterweight champion
The fact he absorbs much less than his counterpart in terms of strikes shows how hard he is to face in the Octagon, with his opponents struggling to make contact.
On top of that, he has faced better opponents that Usman. The combined record of the fighters faced by GSP is 438-80, whereas Usman’s is 281-70. Yes Usman’s opponents have fewer losses together, but GSP’s opponents have won plenty more fights.
As we know in sports, stats aren’t the be all and end all, sometimes they can be deceptive and sell a false narrative, however these are incredibly favouring GSP as the welterweight GOAT.
Dana White has claimed that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is actually the greatest welterweight of all time despite what this graphic suggests.
The debate will rumble on, with others making a judgement on their own opinions of just watching the pair in the Octagon rather than take stats into consideration, while other fans may nod to someone entirely different rather than GSP or Usman.