Georges St. Pierre: The UFC Welterweight Champion's 10 Greatest Achievements

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre is one of MMA's greatest pound-for-pound fighters, as well as one of the most dominating champions ever to step into the Octagon.

His professional record is 21-2, and he has defeated every opponent he has faced. He has defended his title five times, and is set to do so for a sixth time at UFC 129 versus the very tough grappler and wrestler Jake Shields (26-4-1), who is currently on a 15-fight win streak.

No. 10 Defeating Sean Sherk and Stopping Him for the First Time

Sean Sherk deserves a lot of credit. He has only ever been defeated by current or former champions, and he gave Matt Hughes everything he could handle at UFC 42.

Sherk was 31-1 going into this fight, and St. Pierre was 10-1. He was also coming off a dominant submission victory over former title challenger Frank Trigg. Sherk had not fought inside the UFC after losing to Hughes, but he had 12 fights since then and won all of them.

The 23-year-old dominated Sherk in the first round, and took him down at will. Sherk was clearly overmatched in size and, surprisingly, in wrestling. After landing a vicious elbow that broke "The Muscle Shark's" nose, it wasn't long before St. Pierre finished him off for the first time in his career.

No. 9 Coaching Against Josh Koscheck and Beating Him Again

In what is easily St. Pierre's greatest display of the jab and boxing skills inside the Octagon, the Canadian superstar defeated his rival, Josh Koscheck, for the second time at UFC 124.

The fight was promoted through the Ultimate Fighter Season 12, which saw a calm and humble St. Pierre take vocal blow after blow as Koscheck tried to sway him from being anything but mad and wanting to take it out on him during the fight.

Three of St. Pierre's teammates made it to the semi-finals while only one of Koscheck's did. In the finals, it was all Team Georges St. Pierre.

Before a massive audience of 23,152 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, St. Pierre won a five-round unanimous decision.

No. 8 Making Matt Hughes Submit to Armbar in Rubber Match

Matt Hughes had submitted the unbeaten fighter for the first time in his career at UFC 50 via armbar.

During the Ultimate Fighter: Season Four, it was all jokes and laughs for the UFC welterweight champion as he tried to educate St. Pierre on how to properly avoid getting caught in an armbar.

After Matt Serra pulled out of the grudge match with Hughes, St. Pierre stepped in to take his place at UFC 79 in a non-title fight.

Both were 1-1 against each other, and St. Pierre had no intentions of losing again. He dominated Hughes en route to winning via verbal submission due to an armbar in round two.

No. 7 Voted 'Fighter of the Year' in 2009 World MMA Awards

With two victories in 2009 against BJ Penn and Thiago Alves, St. Pierre was awarded the "Fighter of the Year" award in the annual MMA awards show in later that year.

His accomplishments as the UFC welterweight champion, and as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters, has made him one of the most important and influential athletes in the sport.

His accomplishments still continue to grow, and at 29, still has the time to achieve even more.

No. 6 Ending Thiago Alves' Seven-Fight Win Streak

It was the toughest and biggest fight of his career up to that point, and was set to take place at the biggest event in MMA history—UFC 100.

His opponent was dangerous muay thai fighter Thiago Alves. Alves was on a seven-fight win streak, including wins over Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Chris Lytle and Karo Parisyan.

The talk going into the fight was could St. Pierre take the bigger fighter down? Alves was beginning to make a name for himself as one of the hardest fighters to take down.

St. Pierre did more than just take his opponent down. He also outmatched Alves in kickboxing and won a dominant five-round unanimous decision.

No. 5 Being Voted the Canadian Athlete of the Year 2008-2010

With his next fight taking place in front of 55,000 people in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, St. Pierre is officially one of the biggest, if not the biggest, athlete in Canada.

Rogers Sportsnet voted him the "Canadian Athlete of the Year" three years in a row from 2008 to 2010.

It will be a long time before anyone else takes over that spot as long as he continues to dominate and overwhelm his competition in the fastest growing sport in the world.

His status as one of Canada's greatest athletes is what sells out massive stadiums of 20,000 fans and arenas with up to 55,000 fans.

No. 4 Making BJ Penn Quit

Making St. Pierre quit seemed to be BJ Penn's goal leading up to this super-fight set to take place at UFC 94. He was confident it would happen, and made sure people knew by repeating it throughout interviews. St. Pierre said nothing of the kind, and stayed quiet as usual.

Their first fight was close, and the second one was thought to be even closer. After a Primetime countdown show over three weeks, the most anticipated UFC fight finally took place.

Penn's takedown defense got him through the first round untouched, but didn't work for very long. St. Pierre got him down in Round Two, and put a beating on the former welterweight champion for three rounds, before Penn's corner threw in the towel before round five.

This fight may be more significant, and could possibly be St. Pierre's greatest moment, but complaints from Penn about St. Pierre using an illegal jelly, which was applied to his back in between rounds, keeps it from being that.

No. 3 Dominating Jon Fitch over Five-Rounds

Looking back on it, this fight grows in significance every time Fitch fights. With a 13-1-1 record inside the Octagon, Fitch is easily the second-best welterweight fighter in the world, with his only loss being to the welterweight champion.

He is waiting for his second shot at St. Pierre, but their first fight warranted none after he dominated the tough wrestler over five rounds. Besides being a "Fight of the Year" candidate, it was all St. Pierre. He took Fitch down and dropped him with a right hand in a great fight that was still one-sided.

Fitch's face tells the story of the fight, and it shows why St. Pierre does more damage than people think.

No. 2 Defeating Matt Hughes for the Welterweight Championship

After defeating five opponents in a row and coming off a close spit-decision win over BJ Penn at UFC 58, St. Pierre was ready for another title shot against the dominant welterweight champion.

After the fight was scheduled for UFC 63, St. Pierre pulled out and BJ Penn stepped in to take on the champion. Hughes did what Pierre couldn't do, and stopped the Hawaiian in the third round.

When the second fight was finally set between the two, nobody saw what was coming. Takedown attempts by Hughes proved to be ineffective, and St. Pierre attacked with kicks and punches, winning in the second round after landing a head kick.

No. 1 Avenging His Loss to Matt Serra and Winning Welterweight Championship

It was one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when welterweight contender Matt Serra knocked out the newly crowned champion, Georges St. Pierre, at UFC 69 in 2007.

It didn't take long before St. Pierre got back into action and defeated Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes during that same year. Fans could see his style had changed, and the loss to Serra would prove to be a factor in how he approached his future opponents. St. Pierre called his loss the "greatest thing" to ever happen to him.

The rematch was set for April 19, 2008 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and would take place in front of 21,390 fans.

St. Pierre overwhelmed his trash-talking opponent for two dominant rounds before earning a second round stoppage and being crowned the UFC welterweight champion once again—a title that he still keeps to this day.

UFC 129 St. Pierre vs. Shields: Results, News and More