He doesn’t even need finishes for me. But he definitely needs more than one fight as champion in which he is clearly the better fighter. Other than last night, as champion, he’s fought to one draw, one split decision, one unanimous decision in which he absolutely refused to engage. All of his fights left us with the knowledge that if he was better than the other guy, it was only barely and with the impression those guys could potentially beat him on any given night.
Say what you want about gsp but there was never any doubt after his fights as to who the better fighter was. Before he took over, Hughes was the same way. He didn’t squeak by on split decisions and draws. He dominated until gsp took it from him.