Tag: Georges St-Pierre

Dana White explains why Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor included on his UFC Mount Rushmore

Dana White put his business hat on when selecting his latest version of a UFC Mount Rushmore.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] put his business hat on when selecting his MMA Mount Rushmore.

White’s decision to have [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag] and [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] on his list was questioned by many, with his other two choices of [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] widely accepted.

The UFC CEO explained that the impact these four former champions had changed the sport.

“If you look at Ronda Rousey, which I’m sure everybody goes crazy, ‘Uh, Ronda Rousey,’ women aren’t fighting here,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters Tuesday at a post-fight news conference. “The knockout that happened last weekend doesn’t happen without Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey opened the door for all women and became a huge superstar for us and the biggest superstar in the history of female fighting. As far as the gates, pay-per-views, attention, all of it, nobody was bigger than Ronda. She started it all.

“Conor McGregor took this sport to another level when he became not only the biggest star in the sport but one of the biggest stars in all of sports. You had NFL and NBA and soccer players mimicking Conor McGregor during the games. If you guys want to get into the Jon Jones sh*t, we can get into that. I’m obviously going to have a different criteria when you ask me who I think are because of things I know that happened inside the business and how it changed the game.”

White’s 2020 MMA Mount Rushmore included Amanda Nunes instead of Rousey, as well as Jones, Royce Gracie, and Chuck Liddell. White said he was looking at a different criteria when making his updated list.

White said even Season 1 “Ultimate Fighter” winner Forrest Griffin could make someone’s MMA Mount Rushmore based on his iconic ‘TUF Finale’ fight with Stephan Bonnar that arguably saved the UFC.

He spoke about his final choice in St-Pierre, and the kind of impact he had on Canadian MMA – pointing to the 55,724 fans who attended his UFC 129 title-fight headliner vs. Jake Shields in Toronto.

“My other one was Georges St-Pierre,” White said. “In the evolution of this company, when you think back, anybody who was around – a lot of people weren’t around then, but the people who were, when you went up to Canada with Georges St-Pierre, I’ll never forget the time we were up there. I got stuck in a corner. I’m not kidding you: thousands of people.

“That’s when I was tweeting tickets. Remember those days? When I had video blogs and I was tweeting tickets, we literally almost got killed up there one day. By killed, I mean trampled by people looking for tickets. How big that was up there at that time was absolutely insane, and it was all Georges St-Pierre.”

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Dana White’s updated UFC Mount Rushmore ‘absolutely, positively’ includes Conor McGregor

Dana White took a slightly different approach when revealing his updated UFC Mount Rushmore.

UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] took a slightly different approach when revealing his UFC Mount Rushmore.

Ahead of Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) at Sphere in Las Vegas, White was asked to list his MMA Mount Rushmore. There were some obvious choices, but White put emphasis on impact in his list.

“You’ve got to go with [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]. You have to go with [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag] – women would not be fighting if it wasn’t for her,” White told ESPN’s “First Take” (h/t Championship Rounds). “You would have to put GSP ([autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag]) in there and absolutely, positively [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]. He elevated and changed the game globally.”

White’s list is drastically different than the MMA Mount Rushmore he shared in June 2020. That list included Amanda Nunes, Royce Gracie and Chuck Liddell, along with Jones.

No surprise, White included UFC heavyweight champion Jones again. A former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones joined a select few when he was able to realize gold in a second weight class by beating Ciryl Gane in March 2023.

St-Pierre is perhaps another obvious choice. A former nine-time defending UFC welterweight champion, St-Pierre retired in 2013 before returning in 2017 to submit Michael Bisping for the middleweight title at UFC 217. He retired for health reasons just a few months later.

Rousey might not make everyone’s list, but the women’s MMA pioneer certainly had her impact on the sport by convincing White to allow women in the UFC in 2013. Rousey defended her UFC bantamweight title six times in one of the most dominant championship runs in company history.

White’s fourth choice is the sport’s biggest star. McGregor is not only the biggest draw in company history, but he was the UFC’s first fighter to hold two championships simultaneously. His performances to capture those belts are two of the greatest championship-winning finishes – a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to capture the featherweight title in 2015, followed by a striking masterclass over Eddie Alvarez to capture the lightweight title in 2016.

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Georges St-Pierre among ESPN’s Top 100 Athletes of 21st Century

UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion Georges St-Pierre has been recognized by ESPN as one of the greatest athletes of the 2000s.

UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] has been recognized by ESPN as one of the greatest athletes of the 2000s.

With 2024 marking the 25th year of the 21st century, ESPN.com on Monday began unveiling its list of the Top 100 Athletes of the 21st Century, with St-Pierre checking in at No. 76.

St-Pierre, who last year was named MMA Junkie’s greatest UFC fighter of all time in celebration of the promotion’s 30th anniversary, announced his retirement in early 2019, just a few months after he ended previous four-year retirement to claim the middleweight championship from then-champion Michael Bisping at UFC 217. Winning a title in a second division only reinforced St-Pierre’s legendary status as he’d spent more than five years as UFC welterweight champion in which he had nine consecutive title defenses. During his prime, St-Pierre was the UFC’s top pay-per-view draw and put Canadian MMA on the map.

ESPN released only the first 25 athletes (Nos. 100-76) and will continue with 25 each day this week through Thursday.

St-Pierre is ahead of such big names as Bryce Harper (baseball, 79), Chris Paul (basketball, 83), Kawhi Leonard (basketball, 85), Venus Williams (tennis, 86), Aaron Rodgers (football, 91), Pedro Martinez (baseball, 92), Rory McIlroy (golf, 93), and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (soccer, 95), among others.

ESPN said its list accounted “only for athletic accomplishments since January 1, 2000. ESPN.com utilized a panel of experts and ESPN’s renowned Stats & Information Group to rank the top 100 athletes across all sports. More than 75,000 votes were cast by ESPN’s reporters, analysts, producers, editors, and experts around the globe to whittle the initial list of 400 athletes to 100.”

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Georges St-Pierre: UFC champ Islam Makhachev is ‘the best pound-for-pound right now’

UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre is the latest to back Islam Makhachev as the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA over Jon Jones.

UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] is the latest high-profile name to back [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] as the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA over Jon Jones.

After Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) registered his third consecutive lightweight title defense with a fifth-round submission of Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 this month, UFC CEO Dana White stirred up the pound-for-pound discussion when he definitively dubbed Jones as No. 1.

White’s comments sparked a flurry of debate across the MMA community, and now former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion St-Pierre has shared his opinion.

“I think right now he’s the best pound-for-pound right now,” St-Pierre said to coach Firas Zahabi on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel. Because of his last few performances. Just amazing. An amazing showcase of heart, too, because he had a bad cut on his forehead and Poirier gave him a tough time. Pushed the pace to the edge, and I think that fight is going to make Makhachev even better. These are the fights that make you grow.”

Zahabi asked St-Pierre what he thinks Makhachev’s ceiling in the sport looks like given his recent success and what could be on the horizon. “Rush” is considered by most to be in the top-three fighters in all of MMA history, and arguably at the top of the list.

St-Pierre thinks Makhachev, 33, is well on his way to joining that even bigger discussion, so long as he stays the course.

“He’s already starting to get to that status right now (as an all-time great),” St-Pierre said. “Beating Volkanovski and now his last few performances are amazing.”

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Georges St-Pierre opens up on health condition that led to retirement: ‘I thought maybe I had cancer’

Georges St-Pierre reveals his move up to middleweight is what caused him to hang up his gloves.

[autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] reveals his move up to middleweight is what caused him to hang up his gloves.

St-Pierre took a four-year hiatus in 2013 where he relinquished his welterweight belt after nine title defenses. He then returned in November 2017 to challenge Michael Bisping for the middleweight title at UFC 217.

Although he was successful in his pursuit of becoming two-division champion, it was the process to get to 185 pounds that hampered him physically. St-Pierre developed ulcerative colitis when trying to put on weight, which caused him to relinquish his middleweight title and ultimately retire just over a month after beating Bisping.

“The reason why I really retired is because it took a lot out of me, and I started developing a condition called ulcerative colitis,” St-Pierre said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. “It’s an inflammation of the intestine and my last fight when I fought Bisping, I tried to eat, to gain weight, and I have a very hard time gaining weight. I forced myself to eat and maybe the doctor told me that’s probably why I developed that.”

St-Pierre turned to intermittent fasting to cure what he initially thought was a life-threatening disease.

“When I got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, in terms of stress, I got relieved, but also I started doing intermittent fasting, and it cured all my symptoms,” St-Pierre continued. “I’m no longer on medication. I used to be on severe medication. I used to go to bathroom and it was a lot of blood, I thought maybe I had cancer.

“But I was telling myself during training camp I was like, ‘Whatever it is, I’m going to wait until the end of the fight’ because to find out what it is, you need to do what they call a colonoscopy. It’s a camera they put and for that they put you on laxative, and I was trying to gain weight not to lose weight. So, I was like whatever it is, I’m going to fight and see what it is after.”

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Georges St-Pierre: It’s hard to find someone better than ‘full package’ Jon Jones

Georges St-Pierre hails Jon Jones as a once in a lifetime talent.

[autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] hails [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] as a once in a lifetime talent.

Jones reigned over decades of the light heavyweight division before opting to relinquish his title in 2020 and move up to heavyweight. After three years away, Jones returned to quickly submit Ciryl Gane and claim the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285.

When looking at all the attributes of a fighter, former two-division UFC champ St-Pierre says Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) has it all.

“If you ask me in terms of where we are now, I think it’s hard to find someone better than Jon Jones,” St-Pierre said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. “Jon Jones is extremely talented, but he’s also extremely tough. People have no idea how tough he is. I’ve trained with him. I’ve seen him going through the grind. He’s so freaking tough. I remember (his fight) with Vitor Belfort – his arm got dislocated and he fought with a dislocated arm.

“Even in one of his fights, his toe was broken. Most of the time when you have a guy that is very talented, it doesn’t come with toughness. Jon Jones is the full package. He’s got everything: elite striker, elite grappler – he’s good everywhere. Of course, there are things people will say – he did this, he did that, in terms of who’s the best, and he came back, beat Ciryl Gane the way he did. It’s hard to have an argument (against him).”

However, in terms of who had the most impact on him, St-Pierre picked Royce Gracie – the winner of UFC 1 and two other tournaments in 1993 and 1994.

“The one that made the difference for me because he inspired me was Royce Gracie,” St-Pierre said. “Do I think Royce Gracie would do well nowadays in the octagon? No, I don’t. I think the best pound-for-pound in that regard is not even born yet because things will start to get better. Records are made to be beaten. For the time being, the person who has done something that will never be done again, I think Royce Gracie is No. 1 for me. I grew up watching him.”

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Georges St-Pierre reveals what his strategy would have been vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Georges St-Pierre vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov is the super fight we never got.

[autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is the super fight we never got.

Both fighters are adamant on staying retired which makes a fight highly unlikely. But that doesn’t mean former two-division UFC champion St-Pierre hasn’t envisioned how a fight with undefeated former lightweight champion Nurmagomedov would have gone.

St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC) broke down Nurmagomedov’s biggest strengths, and broke down how their approaches differ.

“Khabib has got a very good overhand right,” St-Pierre said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. “He’s very good at measuring distance and creating a dilemma in the mind of his opponent between a takedown and an overhand right. He’s at his most dangerous when he puts you with your back against the fence because he’s a master at chain wrestling.

“My style is different. My style is more in the middle. I’m very good at using fakes and creating destruction to get in your legs. I’m more the dynamic guy. I call it proactive and reactive takedown from the center, but Khabib is better when he’s got his opponent’s back against the fence.”

As for how St-Pierre would have approached fellow UFC Hall of Famer Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC), the longtime welterweight champion says he would have been offensive with his wrestling, too.

“My strategy if I would have gone against Khabib would be to keep the fight as most as I can in the middle and not be afraid to take him down,” St-Pierre continued. “I would have maybe been the first guy that he fought or one of the only guys that would have tried to take him down, and I’ve put down everybody that I’ve fought.”

St-Pierre never looked at Nurmagomedov as a matchup he’d win 10/10 times, but is confident he did have the skills to hand him his first-career loss.

“I can say whatever I want but I think Khabib could have beat me,” St-Pierre said. “I’m not saying I would have beat Khabib all the time. I was confident enough to take that fight that I was thinking if I take that fight, I’m going to beat him that day, at that particular place.

“That doesn’t mean I’ll beat him all the time, but I was confident. “But, maybe I’m wrong. I think I would have beat him because in a way if he would have put pressure on me, I would have put him down. I would have been confident to try to go for it.”

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MMA Junkie’s 2013 ‘POWER’ issue revisited: Who remains among the sport’s most influential?

Here’s a look back at the most influential from our “Power” issue from mid-2013 – and who remains influential today.

In 2013, MMA Junkie, with the backing of the USA Today mothership, put out a specialty magazine.

MMA Junkie’s “Power” issue was our look, in the middle of that year, at the most influential people in the sport.

The cover featured Jon Jones, then the UFC’s new light heavyweight champion and now its current heavyweight titleholder, most prominently and in the center. Surrounding him were Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva and Dana White. And even though only Jones and White are left as active MMA figures, the other three names still carry much weight in the game 10 years later.

But what about the rest of the people who were what we considered the biggest names in the sport 10 years ago? Where are they now?

Here’s a look back at the most influential from our “Power” issue from mid-2013.

Tyron Woodley says he offered Georges St-Pierre a ‘dumb bag’ to fight, but he declined

According to Tyron Woodley, Georges St-Pierre (and Nick Diaz, maybe) turned down a lucrative offer to fight him in his new promotion.

According to [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag], [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] turned down a lucrative offer to fight him.

Woodley revealed that he launched his own fight promotion, The Realest International Promotion (TRIP), which he’s looking to compete in himself. Woodley, a former UFC welterweight champion, made his first two offers to notable names in MMA, but neither accepted. St-Pierre, a former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion, has made it clear on multiple occasions that he has no intention to fight again.

“I’m looking to fight guys that are legendary to me,” Woodley told TMZ, “that I feel like may not have gotten the respect and the money that they should have gotten when they were at the top of the top. Like Georges St-Pierre, I offered him a dumb bag. He said no. ‘I’m not in that world anymore.’ I offered Nick Diaz a dumb bag. When I say dumb, I mean pushing to eight figures, a lot of money. … They both said no.

“Sorry, Nick didn’t say no. Nick liked the comment, so I don’t know what that means. But people that I respect, people that I thought were GOATs, and now that the money is coming to the sport, I want to go to those people first to get them paid with me because it’s a partnership. Whether I like Jake (Paul) or not, I was a business partner with him for two fights. This is a business, you got a partner, it’s not choreographed.”

Woodley says his promotion won’t just be about fighting.

“It’s called The Realest International Promotion, TRIP,” Woodley said. “We’re promoting all things art, so we’re not just doing mixed martial arts. Obviously I would be a fool not to do that just because that’s my background and my base. We’re doing music, concerts, festivals, cryptocurrency, e-sporting events, boxing, and then we just doing a lot of crossover.”

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Karate Combat 43: Anthony Pettis vs. Benson Henderson live stream

Watch two former UFC champions Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson fight at Karate Combat – live and free.

LAS VEGAS – Karate Combat 43 features two of the most recognizable lightweights in UFC history as they fight for the third time – but this time, in a different combat sport.

[autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] and [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] collide Friday and the entire event is live and free on MMA Junkie. UFC Hall of Famers [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] and [autotag]Bas Rutten[/autotag] will be on commentary. The stream begins at 9 p.m. ET.

Also set to compete at the event, former UFC fighter [autotag]Sam Alvey[/autotag] challenges champion Ross Levine, kickboxing legend Raymond Daniels competes, and a handful of other UFC alumni test their skills on the mat – with striking only and no takedowns.

Check out the full lineup below:

  • Anthony Pettis def. Benson Henderson via unanimous decision
  • Sam Alvey def. Ross Levine via unanimous decision – for vacant heavyweight title
  • Raymond Daniels def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision
  • Brandon Jenkins def. Gorjan Slaveski via TKO – Round 1
  • Melinda Fabian def. Omaira Molina via TKO – Round 3, 3:00
  • Batgerel Danaa def. Freddy Masabo via knockout – Round 2
  • Omar Morales def. Armus Guyton via unanimous decision
  • Shahzaib Khan def. Federico Avella via knockout (head kick) – Round 1
  • Chinzo Machida def. Shannon Hudson via unanimous decision
  • Saidyokub Kakhramonov def. Gabriel Stankunas via TKO – Round 3
  • Elijah Everill def. Javier Arteaga via unanimous decision
  • Loxbey Montalvan def. Gabriel Diaz via unanimous decision
  • Jordan Lee Barker def. Damian Villa via unanimous decision