One of the fighters that many people consider to be the greatest of all time is former two-division UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, with one of those people being Dan Hardy.
Hardy claims that GSP’s record both inside and outside of the cage is why St. Pierre is the MMA GOAT.
“He’s definitely on Mount Rushmore – he’s definitely one of the top four; I can’t see anybody else above him,” he stated on MMA Junkie Radio. “The thing that makes ‘GSP’ stand aside (from the rest) is the fact that not only was he an excellent martial artist in the octagon, but he lived the lifestyle out of the octagon. He was squeaky clean – there were no run-ins with the police, no failed drug tests, nothing like that. The losses that he had, he came back and won. I always think that proves an excellent martial artist, someone that found a limitation and then managed to push their way through it. Obviously I’m biased, because I spent a bit of time getting to know him, himself, in his home gym and everything. He’s a fantastic martial artist, he operates on a very high level. It’s difficult to put anybody else above him.”
GSP and Hardy have meet once in the UFC, with St-Pierre scoring a unanimous decision win over Hardy at UFC 111 in March of 2010.
The fighter says that he and GSP have reminisced about their fight, with a lot of good humor surrounding the bout.
“So much time’s passed – 10 years now – and we’re in different places in our lives, and we can look back on it and reminisce with a lot more humor, I suppose is the best way of putting it,” he said. “But it was a lot of fun. ‘GSP’ is one of the greats of the sport, and he moved things along so much, including myself. We all had to raise ourselves to his level. For him to still be so humble and to have so much humility is quite amazing.”
Neither Hardy or GSP are still active as professional MMA fighters, as GSP retired after UFC 217 and Hardy hasn’t competed since September of 2012.
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