Gilbert Burns explains why Kamaru Usman would have beaten a prime Georges St-Pierre

By Adam D Martin - November 30, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns explained why current 170lbs champ Kamaru Usman would have beaten a prime Georges St-Pierre.

Gilbert-Burns

Burns fought Usman earlier this year at UFC 258 and he used to train with him at Sanford MMA, so Burns knows “The Nigerian Nightmare” quite well. He also knows GSP quite well. Although Burns didn’t get a chance to fight him, he has watched St-Pierre compete for many years and knows what his game is all about. So when you ask Burns about who would win between a prime Usman and a prime GSP, his answer gets very interesting.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Burns explained why he believes Usman would have beaten GSP in his prime. As far as Burns goes, the impressive way that Usman has been mostly finishing his opponents has been more impressive than the way that GSP defeated them.

“The way he’s dominating is way more appealing than St-Pierre’s way. St-Pierre took people down and did ground and pound, it wasn’t such a convincing victory sometimes, and Kamaru is winning way more convincingly. He’s already the best in my opinion, but I think he’s still missing more title defenses to end the conversation,” Burns said.

“I tried to take him down and couldn’t, Colby tried to take him down and couldn’t, many others tried but it’s really hard to take him down,” Burns said. “I remember landing some hard shots on Kamaru, really hard ones, feeling my hand landing flush on his head, and he kept going. I remember one head kick I landed flush, I had a bump on my shin afterwards, and he kept going. I think his striking is superior to St-Pierre’s. Kamaru is on another level in wrestling, too. I think that both in their prime, I’d bet on Kamaru.”

Do you agree with Gilbert Burns that Kamaru Usman would have beaten a prime GSP?