UFC
UFC 124 PREVIEW: Georges St. Pierre, Wayne Gretzky and the case of the most famous athlete out of Canada
Dec 7, 2010 - 8:05:14 PM UFC 124 PREVIEW: Georges St. Pierre, Wayne Gretzky and the case of the most famous athlete out of Canada

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Canada has produced a lot of great athletes throughout its history, many of whom have found worldwide fame and recognition. But if you ask UFC President Dana White, there's a clear #1 when it comes to "most famous Canadian athlete": UFC Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre.

St. Pierre was asked about White's stance on that subject during a pre-UFC 124 teleconference on Monday, and he's not ready to completely accept that label with "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky still in the mix.

"It's hard to say [if I'm the most popular athlete to come out of Canada]," St. Pierre said. "I think Wayne Gretzky would be more popular. But the thing is, hockey is not the most popular in every country. Maybe globally, because MMA is popular worldwide and hockey is not, but I don't know."

St. Pierre's case may continue to be made as he defends his title this Saturday in Montreal against Josh Koscheck. Then, should he get past Koscheck, he may find himself in a headlining bout on the UFC's first ever big stadium card at Toronto's Rogers Centre in April.

Penick's Analysis: I grew up a hockey player and hockey fan in Minnesota, so this is one of those spots where both names stand as legends. And it can be argued that Sidney Crosby deserves to be in the mix with GSP right now, especially off of a Stanley Cup victory and game winning goal for Team Canada in the 2010 Olympics. But that said, I think MMA is on its way to being more popular worldwide at this point. It's still a niche sport, but of the four major sports in the U.S., hockey, unfortunately, remains near the bottom in terms of popularity in this country. Of course, there is hockey around the world, but it's a cold climate sport for the most part, whereas MMA competition can be done anywhere. I don't know, this is something very hard to quantify, but in 2010 GSP is probably the top guy. The most famous ever? Impossible to tell right now.

[GSP art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]