Montreal's Georges St-Pierre capped a championship 2008 by receiving Sportsnet's coveted honour, beating out hockey player Jarome Iginla, Paralympian Chantal Petitclerc, tennis player Daniel Nestor and baseball player Justin Morneau.

"It's an honour for me to have this award and being the first MMA guy to receive something like this," St-Pierre told Sportsnet. "I want to congratulate the other nominees because they have done an incredible job in their respective sports, making this an even more special honour.

"I want to thank Rogers Sportsnet and (Sportsnet analyst Showdown) Joe Ferraro for promoting the sport of MMA, because without them the sport would not be as known as it is right now in Canada. I want to thank everybody for their support and voting for me -- I want to be a good Canadian ambassador for the sport and represent MMA well."

St. Pierre won the honor by taking 89% of the vote.