UFC 137 GSP vs. Nick Diaz: Ranking GSP's Most Worthy Challengers

George 'Rush' St. Pierre is on his way to being considered the most dominant P4P fighter in MMA history.  

Barely 30 years old, GSP has reigned supreme of one of the most stacked divisions in the sport, and has barely looked beatable since defeating Matt Serra for the title.

With six title defenses in the books and his seventh coming up, I decided to look back at all of his of his title defenses and determine who his most worthy challenger to date has been.

7. Dan Hardy

Dan Hardy was easily the least qualified fighter to fight GSP to date.  

He accumulated an unspectacular 19-6 record before joining the UFC, where he won four straight fights against mostly mediocre competition. Two of those were by split decision.

The Outlaw's standup was good, but like so many British fighters his wrestling was not up to par. Sure enough, GSP took down the British fighter at will and spent the five rounds on top, nearly finishing a few times.

6. Nick Diaz

Since his last fight in the UFC, he has accumulated a 14-1 record with one no contest, and his only loss was due to cuts.  However, his most high-profile win came over Paul Daley, who at his best barely made the top 10 welterweight rankings.

It's quite possible that the only reason he is getting this fight is because he said he would leave MMA to box since he was unsatisfied with his pay and competition.  Not wanting to throw away one of its most popular fighters, Dana White & company decided to give him GSP.  

He's barely been tested since leaving the UFC and is probably only getting the fight because he threw a fit. There are currently other contenders who are more worthy of the shot.

5. BJ Penn

BJ Penn is one of the hardest fighters to place on this list.  

He is the most accomplished of any of GSP's challengers and was on a dominant winning streak before taking the fight.  However, his winning streak was in a different division.

While Penn's winning streak and accomplishments at lightweight were impressive, they aren't particularly relevant to the welterweight belt.  

Penn got this fight because of the hype that could be generated both from a rematch of an exciting fight and the possibility of a fighter walking out with two belts.

4. Josh Koscheck

Josh Koscheck looked like a transformed fighter coming into his fight with GSP.  

He was 4-1 in his last 5 with three finishes, two of which were knockouts.  He got the shot when he beat Paul Daley, who was coming off four straight first-round knockouts.  That said, his two knockouts came to fighters who would soon be released, and his fight with Johnson was marred with controversy.

Still, Koscheck's performances were very impressive.  Going into the fight, Koscheck was given a better chance of winning than most of GSP's previous opponents, since for the first time in a long time GSP would be fighting someone who was roughly his equal in wrestling.  

GSP hadn't been in a prolonged standup-war in a long time, and people thought Koscheck would be able to keep the fight standing and secure another highlight-reel knockout win. 

3. Thiago Alves

Thiago Alves was on an absolute tear heading into his fight with GSP.  He was on a 7 fight win-streak in the UFC, 5 of which were finishes.  His only blemish was coming in overweight for his fight against Hughes.

He earned a title shot after a dominant decision win over Josh Koscheck.  

Alves was very successful in thwarting Koscheck's takedowns, which gave people hope that he'd be able to force GSP to stand and trade with him, where he'd be dominant.

2. Jake Shields

Jake Shields came into the fight with a 15 fight win-streak.  Those wins didn't come in the UFC, but he still beat good competition in Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, Dan Henderson, Jason Miller, and Robbie Lawler.

However, Shields lost some steam with his split victory over Martin Kampmann, in a fight where Kampmann clearly won on damage.

However, his performance was somewhat vindicated since he had a bad weight cut after dropping to welterweight for the first time in a while.

1. Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch, the grinder.  He had a 16 fight win streak heading into the bout, 8 of which came in the UFC and half of which were finishes.  He beat strikers, wrestlers, and submission specialists by wearing them down with his grinding style.

Of all of GSP's challengers, he has been the closest to claiming a second shot.  He was promised a shot for beating Thiago Alves a second time, but Dana White broke his promise and gave Shields the shot instead.  He might have gotten the shot if he beat BJ Penn, but that fight ended in a draw.

Fitch has since been injured, and is no longer in the immediate title picture.  Still, his accomplishments before and after his fight with GSP leave no doubt in my mind that he's the most deserving challenger GSP has faced to date.