Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has said he believes he would have defeated mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre if they had faced each other during their respective primes.
Usman made the claim during an appearance on the *Pound 4 Pound* podcast, which he co-hosts with former UFC champion Henry Cejudo.
The Nigerian-born fighter, however, dismissed the idea of having one undisputed greatest of all time (GOAT) in mixed martial arts, arguing that the sport has evolved significantly across different generations.
“There’s no greatest of all time. There’s greatest of your time,” Usman said, explaining that fighters from different eras compete with different skill sets and levels of technical development.
He acknowledged St-Pierre's achievements, describing the Canadian as one of the greatest fighters of his generation. However, Usman maintained that his own abilities during his championship years would have given him the edge in a hypothetical matchup.
“I am a humongous fan of Georges St-Pierre, and I think Georges St-Pierre is great. I think in his time he was the greatest. And me being the competitor that I am, that I was, I think in my time I was good enough to beat him,” he said.
Usman was quick to clarify that his statement represented his personal belief rather than a claim about what would certainly have happened.
The former champion established himself as one of the most dominant welterweights in UFC history, winning the title in 2019 and successfully defending it five consecutive times. His championship run included victories over Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns.
St-Pierre, meanwhile, is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, having held the UFC welterweight championship and later captured the middleweight title.
Usman's comments have once again brought attention to the long-running debate over who deserves to be regarded as the greatest fighter in mixed martial arts history.