There’s been a lot of talk lately about a potential George St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva fight. Mixed Martial Arts forums and blogs all over the webisphere are abuzz with who would come out on top. And if the MMA gods have any compassion for us diehard UFC fans then they will make this bout happen.

The potential match got us thinking about other dream match ups. For example, if we were able to put St-Pierre in a time machine and transport him back a few years, how would he do against the legendary Royce Gracie? Both are about the same height and weight. Both are great jiu-jitsu artists and both are great champions. So who is the ultimate warrior? We identified five categories to determine who would come out on top:

1. Striking
2. Wrestling
3. Jiu-Jitsu
4. Heart
5. Octagon Smarts

Let’s get it on!

1. Striking:
Royce Gracie has always been known as a great jiu-jitsu artist. But his striking wasn’t too shabby either. In fact, to prepare for his fight against Matt Hughes in UFC 60, Royce cross-trained in Muay Thai.

But let’s get real. St-Pierre is a black belt in Kyokushin Karate and his Muay Thai and Boxing skills are top notch. (Just ask his training partner Rashad Evans.)

Winner: St-Pierre

2. Wrestling
As we saw at UFC 100, St-Pierre is able to take opponents down at will. In fact, it’s been said he could easily wrestle for the Canadian Olympic team despite never wrestling in high school and college.

While Gracie isn’t a bad wrestler, he has been known to let people take him down and submit his opponents from the guard or his back. He wouldn’t be able to pull that off against a fighter like St-Pierre.

Winner: St-Pierre

3. Jiu-Jitsu
St-Pierre is a phenomenal jiu-jitsu fighter. After all, he holds a black belt in jiu-jitsu, which is not an item that is just given out to any ‘ol fighter. It takes years and years of hard work and studying to receive a BJJ black belt.

But c’mon! We’re talking Royce Gracie here! His family practically invented modern day jiu-jitsu. This one’s a no-brainer.

Winner: Gracie

4. Heart
St-Pierre is one of the most disciplined warriors in the octagon today. His training and mental preparation is legendary. In fact, he trains so hard and comes so well prepared we don’t often get to see him go the distance.

Gracie on the other hand has gone the distance more than a few times. Even in defeat, he refuses to give up. After he defeated Gracie at UFC 60, Matt Hughes stated he purposely let Gracie out of a deep arm lock because he knew Gracie wouldn’t submit and would rather allow his arm to break. That’s heart folks!!!

Winner: Gracie

5. Octagon Smarts
This is probably the toughest one to call. When the UFC first started, few fighters were well rounded in ground fighting. Gracie played to his opponent’s weaknesses, brought them to the ground and finished them off.

St-Pierre, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. He prefers to play to his opponent’s strengths and beat him at his own game. In the dream match up with Gracie, St-Pierre would have no problem going to the ground with him. While he may not dominate Gracie, he would do enough to keep from being submitted. When the fight would go to their feet, St-Pierre would score points with some nice strikes before scoring more with his wrestling takedowns.

In the end it would be a hard fought battle, but St-Pierre is just too well rounded. The tough Canadian would defeat the wise Brazilian by unanimous decision.

Winner: St-Pierre.