"Chasing a ghost of Georges St-Pierre" - Chael Sonnen claims Kamaru Usman will retire from MMA once he overtakes GSP as the welterweight GOAT
Chael Sonnen believes Kamaru Usman might retire from MMA sooner than most people think. According to 'The American Gangster', Usman has already achieved everything in the UFC welterweight division and only continues to compete because he wants to overtake Georges St-Pierre as the GOAT at 170 lbs.
Sonnen believes Usman is well on his way to becoming the greatest welterweight in UFC history, eclipsing GSP's achievements inside the octagon. Thus, he thinks it won't be too long before Usman hangs up his gloves.
In the latest episode of the Bad Guy INC podcast, Chael Sonnen said:
"Kamaru Usman is out there defending a championship of the world and pound-for-pound status while chasing a ghost of Georges St-Pierre. It's a very hard spot for Usman... Retirement for Kamaru Usman even though that's not anywhere in his mouth, is gonna come a lot quicker than you might think. He's done everything now, going through his second time and he only has one goal left which is to overtake the idea of Georges St-Pierre. Pretty difficult, right? But he's well on his way. Kamaru could get beat, Kamaru could leave the sport."
Check out the latest episode of Bad Guy INC below:
Widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, GSP lost just two fights in his entire career - to Matt Sera and Matt Hughes. He later avenged both losses.
St-Pierre also holds nine successful welterweight title defenses to his name. He retired as champion. He then returned - one weight class higher - and became champion again. He announced his second retirement after beating Michael Bisping for the middleweight belt in 2017.
Kamaru Usman isn't far behind. Usman has already had five successful title defenses so far and hasn't lost a fight in the last eight years. He is on an incredible 15-fight winning streak inside the octagon. His domination is evidenced by the state of the welterweight division. Almost every elite contender at 170 lbs has lost to Usman at some point in the UFC.
That's NINETEEN-STRAIGHT wins for the P4P king 👏🏆
[ @Usman84kg | #UFC268 ] https://t.co/2xkXqIWL8c
Kamaru Usman says he isn't chasing GSP's legacy
Dana White said Usman is the welterweight GOAT.
Who is the actual welterweight GOAT? https://t.co/nlGYiA8oVJ
At the weigh-in show for the recently concluded UFC 268 pay-per-view, Kamaru Usman said he 'hates' hearing people claim he's chasing GSP's legacy.
While hailing St-Pierre's achievements inside the octagon, Kamaru Usman claimed that he had a more challenging path to the title. Usman also said he'd never proclaim himself the greatest of all time.
"I hate the way that it's being put that I'm chasing GSP. I'm not chasing GSP. GSP had maybe four fights before he got the title shot. I had to take the long back roads, back door, back alley in order to get that title shot. So I'm not chasing GSP. Look at his body of work, it was spectacular and I consider him one of the greats and look at my body of work. It's right up there as well. I'm not placing that greatest of all time [tag] on myself. By the time I'm said and done with my career, I'm going to let you guys do that."
Check out Usman's comments below: