Chael Sonnen hails Georges St-Pierre as the GOAT

Chael Sonnen has fought three of the greatest fighters of all time in Anderson Silva (twice), Jon Jones, and Fedor Emelianenko. He’s also trained with Georges St-Pierre. Given his history, he has a unique perspective in MMA’s Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate.

In his eyes, the sport’s true GOAT is St-Pierre.

“I’ve fought Fedor, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and I’ve trained with Georges St. Pierre,” Sonnen said on his You’re Welcome podcast. “I will tell you who the best fighter of those four is: it is Georges St-Pierre.”

St-Pierre is best known for his historic run as the UFC welterweight champion, during which time he bested names like Matt Serra, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and Johny Hendricks. In 2017, however, he emerged from a four-year hiatus to battle Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight belt. St-Pierre won this comeback fight by third-round TKO, becoming one of just a few UFC fighters to hold titles in two divisions concurrently.

Sonnen believes this feat was the final bit of supporting evidence needed to call St-Pierre the GOAT.

“When Georges St-Pierre came back and changed weight classes and captured a world championship at yet another weight class, I believe that was the nail in the coffin of the argument,” he said. “I would have made the argument, all the same.

“This champ-champ thing is very real.”

Do you consider Georges St-Pierre the greatest fighter in MMA history, or does your pick go to somebody else?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/1/2019.