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[SWIFTboy]

Or as Dana would say it, of all times.

I'm a huge GSP lover and Hughes hater. However, I still think Hughes holds the unnoficial title of best welterweight ever. I think GSP might be getting close though, and, I definitely think GSP could overtake Hughes by the end of his career. Let's analyse this a little bit though.

Hughes - Fight Finder - Matt Hughes's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics
Overall record: 42 - 7 - 0
14 (T)KOs [/B]( 33.33 %)
19 Submissions ( 45.24 %)
9 Decisions ( 21.43 %)
UFC record: 15-5
Titles Held: UFC Welterweight X2
Title Defences: 7-9 (depending on whether you count Riggs and Gracie)
Head to head record: 1-2


GSP - Fight Finder - Georges "Rush" St. Pierre's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics
Overall record: 17 - 2 - 0
7 (T)KOs ( 41.18 %)
4 Submissions ( 23.53 %)
5 Decisions ( 29.41 %)
1 Other ( 5.88 %)
UFC record: 11-2
Titles held: UFC welterweight X2
Title Defences: 1
Head to head record: 2-1

Overall records are kinda meaningless but I suppose still advantage Hughes on that one. They both go to decision about the same amount, which is not that often. UFC record are pretty similar, but edge to GSP since he would have to go 4-3 in his next seven fights to equal Hughes and I'm gonna assume he does better than that. Very small edge though. Both have held the title twice so we're still even. Skip ahead to head to head record, GSP won the trilogy so give him like a full point over Hughes for that.

Obviously the big difference in the stats are the title defences. If I arbitrarily gave GSP a 'point' for the head-to-head, I would have to give Hughes 4 points for title defences. Meaning, Hughes is ahead by 3 (made-up) points.

The arguement you could make here is that Hughes pretty much got a title shot right away, whereas GSP had to basically clean-out the division to get another shot at Hughes. In a way, the level of competiton GSP had to face to GET the title is similar to the level of competiton Hughes faced to RETAIN the title. However, that is far to subjective to really hold against Hughes in this analyses. Since I'm keeping score and my points are fictitious though, I'm giving GSP one point for it.

So Hughes wins by two points. Even though the scoring system is not legit, I still think most would have to agree Hughes is still the greatest of all time.

So the big question is what does GSP have to do to surpass Hughes????? I say 3 more title defences to tie. If he loses to BJ, then regainig to title and defending it once to tie as well.

What does everyone else think?

[jukon]

I think that if GSP goes 2-0 against BJ he will tie/surpass Hughes, depending on how the fight goes.

[dan the man 67]

GSP is my favorite fighter, but at this point in time, it's hard to overlook Hughes' record. He was as dominant in his prime as any fighter could be. I believe GSP will end his career with a more impressive record.

I was actually a fan of Hughes until I saw them fight each other the second time. I had just gotten into MMA at around that time, and didn't really know who GSP was. After that fight, I was incredibly impressed with GSP, and instantly became a fan of his. I still liked Hughes, but as time went on and Hughes kept insisting on coming off as a jackass, like on TUF and in interviews, my respect for him started to dwindle at a rapid rate. I believe Hughes is past his prime now, and I wish that he would have bowed out of the sport gracefully and honorably instead of changing peoples' tune towards him as he nears the end of his career.

[Problematique]

Until GSP is a 10x UFC WW champ, Hughes shall remain the greatest WW ever.

[rivethead]

Hughes, without a doubt.

If GSP continues to dominate for another few years, they're comparable; but for now, they aren't. Statistics can be interpeted in a variety of ways, but it's undeniable that Hughes literally ran the WW show for years. There are questions about him currently, but in his prime, he was considered unstoppable.

Conversely, I still have questions about GSP in his prime. And Hughes never got KO'd by an unranked natural LW without any real striking that he had a tremendous reach advantage over.

rh

[Problematique]

Originally Posted by rivethead

Conversely, I still have questions about GSP in his prime. And Hughes never got KO'd by an unranked natural LW without any real striking that he had a tremendous reach advantage over.

rh

Whammy!

[2mcgrath]

gsp has a ways to go before he rivals hughes title as the greatest welter weight of all time

[Dr. MMA]

I don't think GSP has to defend his belt 10 times to be comparable to hughes. I think he just needs a few more defenses under his belt. Hughes was dominant for sure and he's definitely ahead of GSP in terms of greatest welterweight but GSP barely has any cans in his record. GSP has fought the toughest competition in his UFC career than almost anyone else and that shouldn't get overlooked either.

Right now its hughes but if he defends his belt successfully into 2010, I would give GSP the edge.

[Oats420]

My opinion could be biased seeing how i'm a huge GSP fan, but back in the day I always loved watching Hughes fight. Anyways, my choice is GSP because he is completely dominating the welterweight division right now and doesn't look like he can't be stopped anytime soon. I never had that feeling for Hughes, so that's why I feel GSP is better all-time.

It's hard to judge this though seeing how Hughes has fought so many more times and during a time when MMA wasn't as big as it is now. Either way though, i'd give it to GSP.

[Masscore]

Hughes and IMO it will always be Hughes. The guy has defended his belt 7 times, more then anyone at any wieght class. Including a record of 5 times in a row, I think Wandy is the only that tie him in Pride. Even though the fighters when he fought might not have been as well rounded as the guys GSP is fighting that can not be held against him. He fought the top guys in his era and beat most of them down. I mean just look at the stats...

7 title defenses
6 stoppages
3 first round stoppages
Overall record of 9-3 in title fights.

If it wasn't for Riggs not making wieght then his stats would have looked even better. He also has wins over two Top 5 P4P fighters right now (Penn and GSP).

I think one thing that is always gonna hurt GSP in the minds of historians when they look back at his career is that loss to Serra. Here is a guy that was demended the next King of the UFC and he got destoryed by a guy that probably wasn't even a Top 15 fighter in his wieghtclass at the time. The only thing that comes close to that for Hughes is BJ Penn, and I doubt we are gonna find anyone on this board that would aruge Penn was not a Top 15 fighter when he fought Hughes.

GSP could pass Hughes, but he has a lot of work to do IMO in a very tough wieghtclass.