UFC welterweight champion and MMA pound-for-pound great Georges St. Pierre is widely considered to be at the top of a short list of the best wrestlers in all of MMA. He's sits a top the list populated by Olympic wrestlers, former NCAA champions and Division I All-Americans, but St. Pierre, unlike the rest of the names at the top of MMA's wrestling food chain, never wrestled in high school or college. 

Instead, the fighting savant picked up the sport in his 20's in order to become a more well-rounded mixed martial artist. Now the gifted striker and solid jiu-jitsu player counts it as the most highly honed of his well-rounded MMA skill set.

"I'm a mixed martial artist," St. Pierre said. "I like to compete not only in the sport of MMA, but I like the single sports. I love wrestling, I love boxing -- for me, I love every single [aspect] of the sport. That is why I consider myself a mixed martial artist."

St. Pierre often trains for months on end with the Canadian Olympic wrestling team, who have been so impressed with his pure wrestling skills that they have been encouraging the French-Canadian to make a run at the Olympics for years now.

In fact, St. Pierre had begun preparing for the 2008 Olympic trials before he was asked by the UFC to fill in for an injured Matt Serra against personal rival Matt Hughes. By accepting that fight, he essentially ended his 2008 Olympic aspirations, but not his desire to taste Olympic glory. However, St. Pierre admits it will be an uphill battle.

"There is a big difference in me saying that I want to go to the Olympic games and actually going to the Olympic games," St. Pierre said. "It is very hard. You have to pass through a bunch of obstacles. It's tough.

Count UFC President Dana White among those pulling for St. Pierre to make it to London for the 2012 Olympics.

"I think it would be great if he won a medal," White said. "Guys that are under contract, they come to us and we sit down and figure things out. The thing is, if you're under contract with me, that doesn't mean I don't want you doing anything else in your life."

For St. Pierre, that means chasing down Olympic glory. Though the culmination of an Olympic birth alone would be a long shot for the part-time wrestler, his participation in the Olympics would be a huge boon for the sport of MMA.

"It won't be easy, but maybe we'll see what is going to happen in London," said a coy St. Pierre.