Georges St-Pierre is MMA PPV king: UFC president
Dana White may have dropped Georges St-Pierre down in his pound-for-pound rankings but the UFC boss says the Montreal fighter is the biggest MMA pay-per-view draw on the planet.
That makes the 30-year-old welterweight title-holder the UFC's biggest money-maker.
But White is still talking up Frankie (The Answer) Edgar in the wake of the lightweight champion's comeback win over Gray Maynard.
Vancouver out of PPV picture in 2012?
Pay-per-view shows in Toronto and Montreal look to be on the UFC's calendar again next year but Vancouver may be left out in the cold, according to the UFC's director of Canadian operations.
Tom Wright says he expect three major shows in Canada in 2012 — in Montreal, Toronto and another city that "will surprise you."
But Vancouver seems out of the current picture.
It has staged two UFC shows under a two-year test run by the city of Vancouver that ends at the end of this year. There is no provincial athletic commission governing the sport in B.C.
"And the disappointing thing for our sport is that after a two-year test period, they've had two tests — ours," Wright said Wednesday. "Because no other promotion could afford the indemnification or the insurance costs or the other things — or actually have the perseverance to get an event to be held there.
"Will we go back to Vancouver in time? Yeah. Will it be next year? I doubt it."
White was so impressed that he moved Edgar above St-Pierre into second spot in the sport's informal pound-for-pound rankings behind middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva.
"And I love Georges St-Pierre," White told reporters on Wednesday. "I tell you what Georges St-Pierre is. He's the pound-for-pound biggest pay-per-view star in the world, so I'm not alone in the fact that I love Georges St-Pierre.
"I've always told you guys, every time I come up here, I don't know how this kid isn't buried in blue-chip sponsorships from Canada. He represents his country, his sport and the [UFC welterweight] title like no one else."
Still, White said Edgar's recent performances against former champion B.J. Penn and Maynard have won him over — especially because Edgar is an undersized 155-pounder, having to constantly battle bigger men.
As in his second fight with Maynard, which ended in a draw at UFC 125, the five-foot-six Edgar took a severe beating in the first round. He recovered both times, knocking out Maynard in the fourth round this time.
"Maynard said 'I hit that kid with everything I possibly could,"' White relayed. "And he goes 'I don't think that guy has a button.'
"And Maynard has never been knocked out in his life. Never in training, never in a fight, ever."
"The kid is amazing," White added of Edgar. "It's the stuff that movies are made of, it's the stuff that legends are made of — what he did last Saturday."
St-Pierre, meanwhile, has made six successful titles defences since winning the 170-pound championship back from Matt Serra at UFC 83 in April 2008.
"I don't disagree with that," said White, when reminded of GSP's title wins. "Georges St-Pierre is on his way to being he greatest welterweight to ever live. And one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters on the planet too.
"I just have to give Frankie Edgar his props, his credit and his respect. Man, the kid blows my mind. I haven't seen anything like that since (the late Canadian boxer) Arturo Gatti. And you know what the difference is? Frankie Edgar's the champion."