When former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre makes his long awaited comeback later this year, it will be to a middleweight title shot, not to a shot at the welterweight belt. That said, the former champ does still pay attention to the division he ruled for so long, and he’s particularly impressed by one welterweight contender in particular: streaking grappling whiz Demian Maia.

The former champ showered Maia with praise on Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour. His words:

“There is a guy in the welterweight division that I see, to me, if I have to make a prediction, I believe he will be the champion. I don’t like to see past things, but I think, as he is right now, Demian Maia is very, very skilled. I see him as a very big threat right now for the title. I think he’s going to win over [Jorge] Masvidal, and I think he’s going to win over Woodley if he fights him. He’s older, but he’s in his prime right now. I think he reached the perfect timing between physical and mental in his game. He’s just so good at what he does. He’s like the blade of a katana. I think his blade is very sharp right now, it’s perfectly polished. He’s going to be very hard to stop right now. 

“He finished Carlos Condit,” St-Pierre continued. “Nobody has ever done that the way he finished Carlos Condit. I was shocked. I was like ‘oh my god, what the hell is this?’ And he still doesn’t have a title shot… I was shocked. He did something that has never been done before. And I remember Carlos Condit, when he fought Robbie Lawler, I thought Condit was going to win the decision. So for me, I’ve been shocked the way Demian Maia has been performing lately. It’s just amazing.” 

What do you think of Georges St-Pierre’s comments on Demian Maia? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/6/2017.