With all due respect, I'm sure, to his American Top Team (ATT) teammate and current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley says there is no doubt that Georges St-Pierre should still be considered the best 170-pounder in all of mixed martial arts (MMA).
After all, "Rush" never actually lost the belt and hasn't tasted defeat in eight years.
That's why "The Chosen One" wants to test himself against the best there ever was by setting himself up nicely for that possibility in the coming year. Which means he'll have to face and defeat his ATT comrade.
He broke it down on The MMA Hour:
"My goals are to become champion and I get to fight GSP. He's the actually No. 1 welterweight, he's the lineal No. 1 guy. You can't just watch this guy sit on the throne that long, defeat three different generations. He beat the jiu-jitsu guys, the strikers, he beat the guys that were mixed martial artists like Koscheck. Then he beat the generation that I'm in, which is Johny Hendricks, the heavy-handed wrestler that can stop a shot and also can strike. He's done that. He finished at the top, he retired as champion. If he comes back, I want to be in the position that I'm the world champion, that I get the big pay-per-view (PPV) check and that I get the chance to at least know for myself where I measure up against a guy that's the best in the world."
As far as a potential rematch between Lawler and Carlos Condit -- who put on an instant classic this past weekend (Sat., Jan 2, 2016) at UFC 195 -- Woodley doesn't think it's warranted, as there wasn't that much controversy surrounding the decision.
As far as a St-Pierre return, that's anybody's guess. But, if Firas Zahabi's recent comments hold any weight, the fight world could be gearing up for the return of the king in the near future.