In this Comparing Kings piece, UFC championship greats Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Georges St-Pierre. We want to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the two greats, champion vs champion, just the facts.
In Comparing Kings, we try to compare generational greats across eras. We narrow down our comparisons using only statistics and facts.
Khabib Nurmagomedov sliced through the UFC lightweight division on his 29 fight total MMA win streak. He went undefeated in the UFC and MMA before retiring as a lightweight champion. His most notable wins were over Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Conor McGregor.
Naturally, as the two have similar heights and styles, they are only one weight class separated, people began to compare Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre. One should not make a judgment before understanding all the stats and facts. For Comparing Kings one can see the numbers below.
Comparing Kings: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Georges St-Pierre
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | Georges St-Pierre | |
| 29-0 | Record | 26-2-0 |
| 4-0 | Championship Record | 13-2-0 |
| 8 | (T)KO | 8 |
| 11 | Sub. | 6 |
| 137-88 (Dif. 49) | Opponents UFC Record | 174-123 (Dif. 51) |
| 7-6 | Opp. UFC Title Record | 22-24 |
| 1 | Highest P4P Rank | 1 |
| 29 | Win Streak | 13 |
| 2 | Top 10 Def. Before Championship | 3 |
| 2-0 | Vs. NJCAA/NCAA Div I Wrestlers | 7-1 |
| 1-0 | Vs. BJJ Champions | 2-0 |
| 48% | Sig. Strike Accuracy | 53% |
| 65% | Strike Defence | 72% |
| 48% | Takedown Accuracy | 74% |
| 84% | Takedown Defence | 85% |
| 59 | Takedowns Landed | 87 |
| 2.05 | Striking Diff. | 2.39 |
| 54.6% | Control Time % | 48.4% |
| 39.5% | Top Position % | 42.30% |
| 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| 70 in (178 cm) | Reach | 76 in (193 cm) |
| 155 lb (70 kg) | Weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Orthodox | Stance | Orthodox |
| Russia | Born | Canada |
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 04: Georges St-Pierre of Canada celebrates after defeating Michael Bisping of England in their UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 217 event inside Madison Square Garden on November 4, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Top 10 Defeated Before Championship – 2/3
October 2006, ahead of St-Pierre’s first title win, he had defeated 3 opponents who were ranked in the top 10: Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, and Karo Parisyan. Surprisingly, St-Pierre’s 2005 win over title challenger Frank Trigg did not carry much value by the end of 2006. Trigg had left the UFC and had taken a hard loss to future St-Pierre adversary in Carlos Condit.
At the time of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s first title shot, April 2018, scheduled to be against Interim champion Tony Ferguson, Nurmagomedov had defeated two opponents remaining in the top ten, this being Edson Barboza and Rafael Dos Anjos. Surprisingly, Nurmagomedov’s 2016 victory over Michael Johnson did not carry much value by 2018 as Johnson would go 2-2 in that time.
Nurmagomedov would quickly pick up more ranked wins over Al Iaquinta, McGregor, Gaethje, and Poirier.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – SEPTEMBER 07: Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia celebrates his submission victory over Dustin Poirier in their lightweight championship bout during UFC 242 at The Arena on September 7, 2019 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
NJCAA/NCAA Div I Wrestlers – 2-0/7-1
St-Pierre made a career of defeating NCAA D1 level wrestlers, holding an impressive record of 7-1 against them. The lone loss being to Champion Matt Hughes, who St-Pierre would later avenge twice. NCAA Wrestlers defeated by St-Pierre: Matt Hughes (2), Frank Trigg, Josh Koscheck (2), Jon Fitch, and Johnny Hendricks. Particularly notable is Koscheck and Hendricks who were also NCAA D1 Wrestling Champions in 2001, 2005, and 2006.
Khabib Nurmagomedov did not fight many NCAA Div I wrestlers throughout his career. The lone NCAA D1 is Justin Gaethje who would have a 14-4 record in this division. And Michael Johnson, being a top NJCAA wrestler.
BJJ Champions – 1-0/2-0
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champions St-Pierre had defeated are only BJ Penn who he had defeated twice. Jake Shields and Matt Serra nearly qualified but Serra would get second in ADCC, while Shields would get third. Nick Diaz would not count for this as he has no BJJ world championships but does have a Pan-Am Jiu-Jitsu championship.
The only BJJ world champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had defeated in his UFC run was Rafael Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos is not only a former UFC champion but he also won World Jiu-Jitsu Championship gold in 2003 as a purple belt.
Opponents UFC Title Record – 7-6/22-24
St-Pierre has fought many opponents who have decorated UFC title records, totaling a record of 22-24. These are Hughes (8-3), Trigg (0-2), Sherk (2-2), Penn (7-5), Serra (1-1), Condit (1-2), Hendricks (1-2), and Bisping (2-1). Opponents Diaz, Shields, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Koscheck, and Dan Hardy would have a 0-1 UFC title record each.
For these numbers, Strikeforce and WEC championship records were not included. These would be Diaz (4-0), Shields (2-0), and Condit (4-0).
Fighters with a UFC championship record that Khabib Nurmagomedov had defeated: Justin Gaethje (1-1), Dustin Poirier (1-1), Conor McGregor (3-1), Al Iaquinta (0-1), and Rafael Dos Anjos (2-2).
Other Notable Statistics
Based on these two fighters’ styles it would be worth comparing takedowns, control time, and top position comparisons. As each one of those is key to the in-cage success for both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre.
It is also worth noting that Nurmagomedov also had much success outside of competing in MMA. He holds three championships in Combat Sambo in Russia.
For more statistics and the sources for the statistics, one can use UFC Stats (GSP/Khabib), and UFC Record Book – Welterweight & Lightweight. More MMA at MMA Sucka.
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