Georges St-Pierre is urging Kamaru Usman to not get complacent.
UFC welterweight champion Usman (20-1 MMA, 15-0 UFC) has looked impressive in his five title defenses, but St-Pierre knows a thing or two about having a target on his back.
In his second reign as welterweight champion, St-Pierre defended his title a divisional record nine times. Now he has offered some words of advice to Usman, who is slowly edging closer to his record.
“I believe there’s a lot of guys that can beat Usman,” St-Pierre told MMA News. “I do believe personally Usman is the best right now in the division, but that doesn’t mean that he is invincible. He needs to always stay on top of the game. It’s hard to be champion, and it’s even harder to stay champion. I’m sure if you ask Usman, he’ll tell you the same thing.
“He’s on a tear right now. He looks phenomenal. But there’s a lot of guys that can give him a lot of trouble, like Khamzat Chimaev. Leon Edwards, maybe. Usman so far has been a puzzle that no one is able to solve. He’s incredible, but he needs to stay focused to make sure he never underestimates nobody and train for every fight like it’s the hardest fight he’s ever had.”
Although Usman has stacked up an all-star resume so far, he did face some adversity in his wins over Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns. St-Pierre was able to overcome a couple of early setbacks to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, but once he captured the welterweight title for a second time, he never lost.
“Nobody’s invincible; everybody can be beat,” St-Pierre said. “It’s not the best fighter that wins the fight very often. It’s the question about the fighter that fights the best the night of the fight, and there’s a lot of things that can influence the result of a fight.”
Georges St-Pierre: Kamaru Usman on a tear, but he can be beaten if he’s not careful