During his run in the UFC’s welterweight division, Georges St-Pierre achieved an incredible legacy as one of the most dominant champions of all time.
Though St-Pierre did briefly return at middleweight to become a two-weight champion, it’s his success at 170 pounds that first showed how great ‘Rush’ truly was.
His last defeat came all the way back in 2007 before St-Pierre avenged his loss to Matt Serra in dominant fashion, stopping him at UFC 83 to unify the welterweight belts.
The Canadian star went on to defend the belt nine consecutive times before vacating the title which is set to be on the line in the main event of UFC 315 on May 10.
With the Octagon finally returning to the Bell Center in Montreal, St-Pierre was in attendance for a fan Q&A where he was asked who, of all the legendary names that he faced, was the toughest opponent of his career.
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Georges St-Pierre says B.J. Penn was the best opponent he fought in his legendary career
Any great champion needs worthy challengers to define their legacy and Georges St-Pierre wasn’t short on iconic adversaries.
From his rivalry with Nick Diaz to his two fights with Matt Hughes, the long-reigning welterweight champion fought all the best names of his era and that includes a man who is often overlooked when we talk about the greatest to ever do it.
St-Pierre shared the Octagon with B.J. Penn on two occasions as the Hawaiian fan favorite looked to recapture the 170 pound title, having previously held it in 2004.
At UFC 58 in 2006, Penn’s return to the UFC following several years away was ruined by St-Pierre as the Canadian beat him via split decision before going on to knock out Hughes to win the belt.
Their rematch took place three years later at UFC 94 where both men held titles, making it one of the biggest matchups in the history of the promotion at that time.
Penn had moved back down to lightweight where he won the gold, defended it, and then tried to make UFC history as the promotion’s first ever simultaneous two-weight world champion.
He was stopped in the fourth round by his corner following a dominant grappling display from the defending champion, but that doesn’t change the fact that St-Pierre acknowledges just how good his former rival was.
“I would say the best guy I fought in terms of skill was B.J. Penn,” St-Pierre said at the UFC 315 fan Q&A. “His nickname was ‘The Prodigy,’ because he was the first American to become a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt champion, I think in like three years and a half.
“He was a real prodigy, at the time he was like the perfect fighter. He was so fast. I remember the first time I fought him, I threw a jab, and I used to be very fast. And when I threw that jab, he was behind me.
“I was like ‘what the hell, this guy just teleported himself?’ He was incredibly fast, incredibly skilled, and very hard to deal with,” St-Pierre admitted.
Georges St-Pierre retired on top to cap off his legendary career in the UFC
In a recent exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, Georges St-Pierre spoke about his retirement and why he was able to ride off into the sunset when so many fighters don’t get the same Hollywood ending.
B.J. Penn, for example, would go on to lose seven consecutive fights inside the Octagon after many believed that he should have walked away from the UFC years before his final outing in 2019.
St-Pierre said that while it is hard to fill the gap that MMA leaves behind, he came to terms with the idea that being a professional fighter was only one chapter of his life.
“You have to prepare before it happens and I retired with a smile… Fighting is not who I am, it’s what I used to do. Of course, I made peace with it.”
“I will probably never feel that rush of adrenaline, that feeling of winning a fight, it’s crazy addicting, but I have to get some of that competitive edge that I need, to put it in other things.”