BY WEB STAFF
sportsnet.ca

The people have spoken and, as he was in 2008, UFC star Georges St. Pierre is their champion.

After a week of voting, the Montreal-based welterweight champion received more than 60 per cent of readers' votes to beat out Stanley Cup champion Sidney Crosby for Sportsnet's Canadian Athlete of the Year.

"Thanks to Sportsnet, all the fans. It's an honour to win the award two years in a row," St. Pierre told Sportsnet on Monday. "Congratulations to Sidney Crosby, it is a great honour to be nominated with him. Crosby is a great hockey player and in a country where hockey is king it says a lot about the growth of MMA for me to win this award again."

St. Pierre was also selected by sportsnet.ca readers for the honour in 2008. Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain who won his first Cup this past spring, was Sportsnet's Canadian Athlete of the Year in 2007.

The 28-year-old St-Pierre twice defended his UFC welterweight championship in 2009, first against B.J. Penn in January at UFC 94 and again against Thiago Alves in July at UFC 100. In that Alves fight St-Pierre suffered a groin injury that has sidelined him since, but it was revealed last week that St-Pierre will defend his title against Dan Hardy at UFC 111 in Newark, NJ, on March 27.

St. Pierre's repeat duplicates the feat of Phoenix Sun's guard Steve Nash, who won it in 2005 and 2006.

Said UFC president Dana White: "Great choice again Canada! Not only is Georges St. Pierre a great champion, he is a great ambassador for the sport, a great human being and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Congratulations Georges."

While St. Pierre has performed spectacularly in the Octagon, he has also had an impact outside it, particularly in bringing the sport to the mainstream. His appeal has led to endorsement deals with both Gatorade and Under Armour, and he is represented by the Hollywood-based Creative Artists Agency.