Georges St-Pierre: Power Ranking the Top 5 UFC Fighters Who Could Dethrone GSP

Georges St-Pierre is considered by many to be the greatest pound-for-pound mixed martial artist on the planet. Some would even go as far as to say that he is the best fighter of all time.

As much as fans of fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Anderson Silva want to believe in their guy, it’s hard to deny the current UFC welterweight champion and his unbelievable accomplishments in arguably the deepest division in the sport.

St-Pierre has run rough-shot over the welterweight division, and with the only blemish a shocking flash knockout to Matt Serra in 2007, he has run up a UFC record of 14-1 since 2005.

There have been countless challengers who have tested their skills against GSP in the past, but the champion holds at least one victory over every opponent he has ever faced.

But UFC 137 may prove to be the end of the champion’s run as he’ll be fighting the man whom many believe to be GSP’s biggest remaining challenger, former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz.

So which fighter actually does have the best chance of defeating this future Hall of Famer? Read on to find out as we countdown the top five UFC fighters who could dethrone GSP.

5. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson

UFC Record: 6-3
Age: 27
Height: 6’2”
Reach: 78”

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson checks in at fifth on this countdown as perhaps the most surprising person to make the list.

While there are a handful of other fighters who many believe could defeat St-Pierre, few have the physical tools that Johnson possesses. These physical tools have brought Johnson to within a fight or two of a title shot on more than one occasion, but numerous injuries and tough breaks have cost him his chance to challenge for the belt yet.

Johnson’s strength and natural size could make him a tough matchup for St-Pierre who is used to out-powering and essentially manhandling his opponents. But that won’t be easy against a guy who admits that he cuts anywhere from 45 to 55 pounds to make it to the 170-pound weight limit.

If Johnson can stay healthy and string together a couple wins, he could be fighting for the title by the end of 2012. It all starts in October when he fights Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 6.

4. Jon Fitch

UFC Record: 13-1-1
Age: 33
Height: 6’0”
Reach: 74”

Sometimes in MMA, a fight happens, and everyone seems to believe that the result is the same thing that would happen every time that the two fighters step into the cage.

It actually happened to Georges St-Pierre the first time he fought Matt Hughes. It was early in the Canadian’s career and he had not truly been tested by many top-level opponents yet.

Hughes ended up submitting him and there were quite a few critics who expected the same type of victory for Hughes leading up to the rematch.

But St-Pierre silenced those critics when he defeated Hughes to become the UFC welterweight champion in the rematch. Since that point, he has been almost unanimously considered the greatest welterweight on the planet.

Is it so impossible to think that the same thing might happen for Jon Fitch if he himself ever ends up getting another shot at GSP?

Fitch himself believes that he is ready for the rematch and would be the kind of fighter who could give fits to the champion.

"I think I'm at the point where I can technically matchup with him and I think I can beat him,” Fitch told ProFighting-Fans.com last year. “I think, right now, I'm a better fighter than him. I'm just waiting for the opportunity to prove it."

3. Carlos Condit

UFC Record: 4-1
Age: 27
Height: 6’2”
Reach: 76”

After accumulating an undefeated 5-0 record in the WEC and winning the promotion’s welterweight championship, Carlos Condit was promoted to the big show in the UFC back in April 2009.

His debut was spoiled by an extremely close split decision loss to Martin Kampmann, but he has since went on to defeat four straight borderline top-10 UFC contenders. Most recently, he hammered the previously undefeated (officially) Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132.

In just five UFC appearances, Condit has already accumulated two Knockout of the Night bonuses and an additional Fight of the Night bonus. To say that his fights are entertaining would be a vast understatement as the 27-year-old may be the most intense striker in the division.

Condit brings a very unique set of skills into a potential fight with St-Pierre. Obviously his nonstop aggression in the striking game makes him a tough matchup for anyone, but perhaps more important than that is that he actually is a teammate and training partner of GSP’s at Jackson’s Submission Fighting.

Don’t look for these two welterweight stars to have a falling out like Rashad Evans and Jon Jones did from the same camp, but Condit has made it known that he would absolutely take a fight with St-Pierre if the opportunity arose.

2. Nick Diaz

UFC Record: 6-4
Age: 27
Height: 6’1”
Reach: 74”

You can call him arrogant, call him brash, call him crazy or even call him an a**hole, but one thing’s absolutely for certain—Nick Diaz is an absolute beast of a fighter.

No matter where the fight goes, Diaz truly believes he has the advantage. On his feet, he is perhaps the best technical boxing in the entire welterweight division. Off of his back, he has some of the cleanest jiu-jitsu of any fighter on the planet.

If he gets on top of you, you might as well just start tapping immediately because your body is about to be contorted in a way that is sure to be one of the least pleasurable things you have ever experienced.

Though he hasn’t been tested by many top competitors in recent years, Diaz is currently on a streak of ten straight victories. Even if the opponents haven’t been elite, it’s almost impossible in this day in age to string together that many wins just out of pure chance.

There is is no denying that Diaz is a better fighter today than he was even just a few years ago when he left the UFC. Now it’s time for him to prove that he belongs back in the company. What better way to do that than to shock the world and knock off the best of the best?

1. Anderson Silva

UFC Record: 13-0
Age: 36
Height: 6’2”
Reach: 77.6”

As much as us fans want it to happen, it’s seeming less and less likely that we will ever see a showdown between the UFC’s two seemingly unbeatable champions, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.

GSP hasn’t come out and said it publicly, but it appears that he simply doesn’t have the desire to move up in weight and compete at 185 pounds. And it’s hard to blame him. A jump of 15 pounds is pretty big, especially for a guy who regularly uses his natural size and strength advantages over his opponents to win fights at 170 pounds.

So are we doomed? Will we never see this fight if St-Pierre refuses to move up in weight? Not so fast.

Anderson Silva may actually be able to come to the rescue, if he really wants the fight, by making the drop to 170 pounds.

Sure, it’d probably be very difficult for the 36-year-old to cut an extra 15 pounds to get his body healthily back to make the cut to welterweight, but this is Anderson Silva we’re talking about. The guy simply makes things happen.

Silva has made the jump to 205 pounds in the past, so a permanent move up is more likely than down, but hey—maybe he’ll consider it for what will likely be the biggest payoff of his entire career.

Quite frankly, a fight between Silva and GSP would crush all of the previous pay-per-view buyrates and could realistically sell out even a huge arena like Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

As has been stated on many occasions, Silva is likely the worst stylistic opponent for St-Pierre.

His head movement and world-class striking on the feet would have to make GSP absolutely terrified to keep the fight standing. As such, he would likely look to bring Silva to the ground where he can use a Chael Sonnen-like grind-it-out style to control the “Spider.”

But we all saw how that ended up for Sonnen.

If this fight were to ever happen, Silva would likely be the odds-on betting favorite. St-Pierre hasn’t been the underdog in years and it would be very interesting to see if he rises to the occasion or collapses under the pressure.

Whatever the case, isn’t it about damn time that this superfight finally happens?