5 opponents that Kamaru Usman needs to beat to surpass Georges St-Pierre as the UFC welterweight GOAT
This weekend at UFC 278, reigning welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will attempt to defend his title successfully for the sixth time when he faces top contender Leon Edwards.
Kamaru Usman is undoubtedly a dominant champion, but one thing he hasn’t done yet is surpass former kingpin Georges St-Pierre, although a win this weekend will bring him closer.
So what does ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ need to do for his legacy to overtake that of GSP’s? He will probably need to break the Canadian’s record of nine successful title defenses.
With that in mind, here are five opponents that Kamaru Usman needs to beat to surpass Georges St-Pierre as the welterweight GOAT.
#5. Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards
Obviously the first step for Kamaru Usman to take towards surpassing Georges St-Pierre should be defeating Leon Edwards in their upcoming title bout at UFC 278 this weekend.
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A win over ‘Rocky’ would give Usman six successful title defenses, leaving him just three behind the Canadian, and it’d also be his 16th in a row since his octagon debut back in 2015, the kind of record unmatched even by GSP.
More to the point, though, it’s hard to understate how significant a win over Edwards would be in terms of the overall toughness of the man from Birmingham. ‘Rocky’ is on a lengthy ten-fight unbeaten streak of his own, and he hasn’t lost since Usman himself defeated him in 2015.
Can Usman run through Edwards as he did to the likes of Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal? On paper at least, it seems like a straightforward bout for him. Edwards has no real weaknesses, but it’s hard to pinpoint a single area in which he’s superior to ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
Therefore, it’s highly likely that even if Usman can’t finish him, he should be able to clearly outpoint ‘Rocky’ without taking too much damage in return – hopefully allowing him to return to the octagon quickly in the near future.
#4. Kamaru Usman vs. Geoff Neal
One thing that made Georges St-Pierre so great was his ability to adapt to facing opponents with entirely different styles, and manage to find away to beat them anyway.
Kamaru Usman is definitely a great champion, and he’s fought plenty of dangerous fighters thus far, but after facing a couple of more grapple-heavy opponents in Colby Covington and Leon Edwards, it’d be nice to see him against a truly explosive striker.
One fighter who it’d be cool to see him face at some point in the future, then, is Geoff Neal. ‘Handz of Steel’ is arguably the division’s hardest-hitting fighter, with his recent knockout win over the tough Vicente Luque propelling him into the top ten for the first time.
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Obviously it’s likely that Neal will need to beat at least one or two more highly-ranked fighters – perhaps a former title challenger like Gilbert Burns – to reach a title shot, but at the age of 31 he’s still got plenty of time to do that.
Overall, a fight with Neal would be one that Usman would be expected to win handily, but it’d also give him a different test and require him to perhaps be more careful standing – making it a very intriguing potential challenge.
#3. Kamaru Usman vs. Belal Muhammad
It’s obvious by looking at his 15-fight win streak in the UFC that the rest of the welterweight division has found it near-impossible to handle Kamaru Usman. One area in particular that stands out in this way is Usman’s wrestling. Thus far at least, nobody has been able to take ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ down.
One fighter who might have high hopes of doing that, though, is rising contender Belal Muhammad. ‘Remember the Name’ is currently on one of the division’s longest unbeaten streaks – eight fights dating back to 2019 – and he may only be one fight away from a title shot at this stage.
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Muhammad has always been a great wrestler. He averages 2.29 takedowns per fight, and interestingly, he’s never lost in a fight that’s seen him be able to ground his opponent. The only recent opponent he hasn’t taken down? Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia, for obvious reasons.
More interestingly, Muhammad has only been taken down a handful of times in return, giving him a takedown defense rate of 91%.
With that considered, ‘Remember the Name’ might be the fighter most capable of taking Usman out of his comfort zone by planting him on his back and blocking his own takedown attempts in return.
As many of his fans remember, Georges St-Pierre was highly adept at dealing with powerful wrestlers like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. If Usman could do the same in a bout with Muhammad, it’d go a long way towards his legacy surpassing that of the Canadian.
#2. Kamaru Usman vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Georges St-Pierre’s time atop of the welterweight division essentially lasted from mid-2005, when he first became a top contender, to late 2013, when he first stepped away from the UFC. That meant that he was given the opportunity to fight opponents who basically emerged from a different generation to him.
Thus far into his octagon tenure, Kamaru Usman has largely dealt with opponents who either preceded him into the promotion – the likes of Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley and Rafael Dos Anjos – as well as his contemporaries like Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington.
At some point, though, he’ll be faced with a foe from the next generation – and turning back that kind of challenge would definitely push him closer to GSP.
So who of that next generation could break through to challenge Usman? One name that comes to mind is definitely Shavkat Rakhmonov.
A flashy striker with the ability to end a bout in seemingly any way at any time, ‘The Nomad’ is unbeaten in MMA at 16-0 and already has four wins in the octagon.
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More importantly, he’s dealt with far more experienced foes with ease – making him look like the kind of natural talent who will fly up the rankings into title contention.
It might be at least a year before Rakhmonov is ready for a title shot, but if Usman could turn back the challenge of a fighter so talented and explosive, it’d be huge for his overall legacy.
#1. Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev
The biggest challenge left for Kamaru Usman in the UFC welterweight division is undoubtedly the fastest rising star in the promotion, Khamzat Chimaev. Remarkably too, it’s a challenge that might come for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ sooner rather than later.
Chimaev has been with the UFC for just two years, dating back to his debut at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020. Since then, though, the Sweden-based Chechnyan has made a tremendous impact.
After running through his first three opponents, he’s taken steps up against the highly-ranked Li Jingliang and Gilbert Burns, and passed both tests with flying colours, cementing himself as a top three fighter in the division.
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With his next fight against Nate Diaz looking like the final hurdle for Chimaev before he takes his shot at the title, what could a win over this unbeaten prospect do for Usman?
To be frank, it’d be massive for him. Georges St-Pierre turned back the challenge of plenty of young lions during his storied title reign, but never had to face a force of nature like ‘Borz’. If ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ could find a way to beat him, then, it’d be the kind of win that could propel him past GSP in the history books.