Mixed Martial Arts Forum banner

GSP/Silva Superfight to Happen

13K views 142 replies 48 participants last post by  HitOrGetHit 
#1 ·
from sportsnet.ca

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2012/11/16/georges_st_pierre_anderson_silva_fight/

After months of speculation, UFC president Dana White confirmed Friday that Georges St-Pierre will fight Anderson Silva if he wins his bout against Carlos Condit Saturday at UFC 154 in Montreal.

The long-awaited super fight is scheduled for May with Toronto, Dallas or Brazil potential venues.

"This thing has been a hypothetical forver now," White told Showdown Joe Ferraro Friday night. "In no way has the UFC in any way shape or form overlooked Carlos Condit but now we're down to reality time here.

"Tomorrow night either Georges St-Pierre or Carlos Condit is going to win that fight. Anderson Silva will be sitting cage side and if he wins those two will fight in May at Dallas Texas Stadium, Toronto, or a soccer stadium in Brazil. It will happen."

Silva and St-Pierre are widely considered the top two pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the sport's history.

The 37-year-old Silva (32-4) has not lost in 15 fights in the UFC.

The 31-year-old St-Pierre (22-2) will return to the cage Saturday after missing a year due to a knee injury.
 
#66 ·
Hope to god now that GSP can get it over Condit.
 
#75 ·
Rather than post an entirely new thread here's an update on this.

As much as I want to see this I feel bad for GSP. It's obvious he doesn't want this. He's being pressured into something he knows he may not come out of in one piece. If it were Diaz or Condit sure lets do it. But GSP is a great ambassador and a humble dude. I wouldn't want to see him thrashed w/ his confidence shattered although he could beat Anderson Silva, but unlikely. He gets hit in every fight as do 99% of the fighters out there, but a shot from Anderson is usually all it takes and it's over. I'm not sure GSP can recover from it. I can always notice from the facial expression of every fighter during weigh ins and especially during the intro. GSP was nervous. He was very very intense vs Serra II, especially against BJ Penn and Thiago. Re-watch his intro and the beginning of the fight. He had his mean stare pacing around. The GSP last night was confident, but a bit shaky. I've always said MMA is 90% mental. I would love to hear what Phil Nurse, Danaher, Greg Jackson, and Firaz have to say about this potential match up. We already heard what Freddy Roach said.

My imaginary quotes:

Phil Nurse: He is one of the best Muay Thai practitioners in MMA. All kicks will be rendered useless other than maybe the spinning side kick or inside leg kick. Even the superman punch is too high risk. Basically just jab and take em down.

Danaher: He is a competent black belt under Nog, but has weaknesses. The key is to attack his legs.

GJ: Lay n pray...baby. The Greg Jackson fight system.

Firaz: "Do not fight with this guy he will put you into the morgue."

---> UFC BOSS DANA WHITE ON ANDERSON SILVA-GEORGES ST. PIERRE: ‘WE WILL MAKE THIS FIGHT’

A long-anticipated super-fight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva will likely take place in spring 2013, according to UFC President Dana White.

White announced the news Saturday night after St. Pierre successfully defended his welterweight crown against interim champ Carlos Condit in the UFC 154 headliner at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

“It’s the No. 1 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world against the No. 2 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” White told Fox Sports. “It’s a big fight. We think people want to see it, and we think the guys want to do it, so we’ll do it. They will fight, and it will probably be in May or around May.”

White said the company has yet to decide where the fight will take place, but named Toronto, Dallas and Brazil as “the three options.” Though St. Pierre was non-committal about a potential meeting with Silva (Pictured, file photo) during his post-fight interview, White believes it unlikely that the welterweight king would turn down a chance to face “The Spider.”

“[St. Pierre] is lumped up. He’s sore. He feels like he just got hit by a bus, I’m sure. He hasn’t fought in 18 months. I’ll make this fight,” said White. “We’re going to sit down with Anderson, probably in the next two weeks, and I’m sure we’re going to sit down and talk to St. Pierre and his team, too. Who knows? Maybe we go into this thing, and St. Pierre says, ‘Absolutely not,’ but I just don’t see that happening.”

Regarded as one of MMA’s premier athletes, St. Pierre struggled with injuries last year and has spent the last 10 months recovering from a torn ACL. Nevertheless, St. Pierre appeared no worse for the wear against Condit, scoring takedowns and dropping hard ground-and-pound in each of the first two rounds.

However, Condit managed to turn the tide in round three with a beautiful head kick that sent St. Pierre to the canvas. “The Natural Born Killer” looked to finish, but the champion held on and eventually regained his vertical base before hitting another takedown and finishing the frame on top.

Recovered from the knockdown, St. Pierre decisively won the championship rounds, continually sticking Condit with straight punches before scoring more takedowns in both of the final two frames to take a unanimous judges’ decision.

Tonight’s title defense marked St. Pierre’s first in-cage appearance since he outpointed Jake Shields at UFC 129 in April 2011. “Rush” has not lost since 2007, rattling off nine consecutive victories since relinquishing his title to Matt Serra at UFC 69. St. Pierre, 31, is a two-time UFC welterweight champion and owns notable victories over B.J. Penn, Jon Fitch and Matt Hughes.

Like St. Pierre, Silva has long been known as one of the sport’s most dominant fighters, posting a record 16 consecutive UFC wins since joining the promotion in 2006. Silva has reigned as UFC middleweight champion for more than six years, successfully defending his belt against the likes of Rich Franklin, Yushin Okami and Chael Sonnen. The 37-year-old southpaw owns 20 of his 33 career victories by way of knockout and has suffered just four defeats in his 15-year pro career.
 
#82 ·
What crying? GSP clearly doesn't want the fight. He probably suspects that Anderson would beat him, perhaps even soundly. And he's content to reign over WW as... you know... the WW Champion. End of story.

I get that fans want this. Heck, I want it. But you can't make any man fight against his will. A GSP who feels pressured into this thing is not going to perform well against an already Godly opponent.
 
#85 ·
Is it the fans or is it the haters that want this superfight?

I think the St.Pierre fans knows he`s going to loose, so they dont`t want this fight. And the haters? Well they just want St.Pierre to loose, and get him of his pedestal and say he`s just another lay and pray fighter.
 
#86 · (Edited)
Boooo!This is such a dumb matchup. GSP would get smashed, but that's not even the important thing. The important thing is that Johnny Hendricks has a super legitimate claim for title contention. He WRECKED John Fitch, who Georges himself was unable to finish. Furthermore, he's tallied off an impressive series of victories over top-shelf competition.

It's absolutely stupid to put the WW division on hold for a 'super fight' in which the outcome is all but predetermined. Not to mention how compelling a Hendricks-St Pierre matchup would be! Hendricks has a great wrestling pedigree -- possibly enough to defend some takedowns from the champion -- and he COULD knock GSP out beyond a shadow of a doubt. The amount of power he generates from unorthodox punches gives him a chance against anyone!

Also, Anderson needs to stop being a puss. If he wants a superfight, he should take on JBJ. If he wants to, idk, do his duty as the MW champion he should defend his title. He's an amazing fighter and I love him (he's the one who inspired me to do MMA), but he's seriously being a be-yotch right now.
 
#87 ·
Also, Anderson needs to stop being a puss. If he wants a superfight, he should take on JBJ. If he wants to, idk, do his duty as the MW champion he should defend his title. He's an amazing fighter and I love him (he's the one who inspired me to do MMA), but he's seriously being a be-yotch right now.
Really don't understand when people talk like this.

Jones said he didn't want to fight Anderson. Yet Anderson is some how the only reason they aren't fighting now? He just said he wanted GSP then Bones.

GSP should just say no then, so Anderson can figure out what is next. Anderson is putting his self out there, if GSP doesn't want it then just say so. We all know GSP is a afraid to lose. He wants all the chips in his corner.

Explain how Anderson i being a bitch. What did he say to make you claim he is? GSP is being a bitch for not choosing what he wants and standing by it. He is riding the fence like a girl.

Anderson will probably fight Bones in the future. He said he wants to. So not sure what you are even talking about.
 
#89 ·
Can I take 2 minutes to desribe how dumb this is?

Lets play hypothetical fantasy land for a minute. Say Anderson retired today and GSP moved to 185. Who would you expect to capture the belt at MW? I think Weidman would be a bad matchup for him. But most people would pick GSP or Weidman. So if GSP is good enough to be the #2 or #3 best MW in teh world....what is the problem? He would be a top 3 MW if he moved up. So why is it so unfair that he fights the #1 MW at a catchweight?

People must not think highly of GSP to think he has no shot. Even his fans must not think much of him. You take Cruz/Aldo meeting at 140. Aldo/Bendo meeting at 150. Bendo/GSP meeting at 165. Anderson/Jones meeting at 200. Jones/JDS meeting at 225. No one would call ANY of those catchweight fighst between champs unfair. Yet we gets to Anderson/GSP at 178 and all of a sudden it is the most unfair thing around.

That right there shows you how little faith fans have in GSP. He is the #2 P4P fighter in the whole world. Yet he is getting the baby treatment as to what he can handle and what he can't. If the #2 P4P fighter is so far away from the #1 P4P fighter....that right there says something about his ranking. Not a very good #2 P4P fighter when people think he has no chance of beating the #1 at a catch.
 
#92 ·
Who says he's the #2 P4P fighter? Dana? Anderson? Most reputable lists that bother to rate P4P have Bones at #2 if you take the time to look.

There's a difference between not having faith, and both fans and GSP being realistic about the outcome.

Look at the guys GSP has gone 5 rounds with. Do you think any of those guys would last more than a round with Silva at a catchweight fight?

Second to that - if you saw the post-fight presser yesterday it's seems GSP really isn't interested. He probably just has too much pride to say no - but if he really wanted the fight it would have been a done deal and announced at the post fight presser.

GSP even hinted last night that moving up to 178 may be too much for his body -- he stated that hes very careful with his weight and his body doesn't allow him to move up and down very much like other fighters. He hinted at maybe 170 if Anderson can make that weight. He also talked about how Anderson started his carrer at WW, and has continued to grow, and fought at LHW. He talked about how if they weighed in at 178 anderson could be well above 210 the night of the fight, compard to maybe GSP being 185.

He also took a shot at Dana and the media, saying it was very disrespectful to both Condit and himself to talk about a fight with Silva during the week leading up to this fight. It will be interesting to see if Dana has anyhing to say back, but I'm thinking this is the rare case where Dana may bite his tongue.

Ultimately it's up to GSP, and if you've actually listened to his opinion on the matter (not reading people's opinions on forums, not listening to Dana/Silva talk, not listening to the media) he's never really been interested. He one of the smartest fighters in the UFC, and he's a realist. Again, it's GSP being realistic about the outcome.

I'll end by saying - the funny thing is, if you actually TALK to some hardcoreGSP fans in Canada, most really don't want the fight. It seems to be the Silva fans, Dana White (for the payday) and the GSP haters who want to see him beaten.
 
#91 ·
Yeah, I don't think the naysayers are basing this on "p4p rankings" or whatever. It's probably more that they just yesterday watched GSP (nearly) get his head kicked off by someone who's built similarly to Anderson, but is smaller and inferior. It's not hard to extrapolate from this and feel that the bigger, more dominant fighter in Anderson would be able to capitalize on the mistakes that Georges makes -- as he's done to so many before -- and get the finish. Or even worse, and just as likely, dance around him in jab for 25 minutes.
 
#97 ·
When Anderson fights the #2 P4P fighter at 205lbs...it will be badass. Because he isn't afraid to lose.

Does that make sense?

All fighters are different. If GSP doesn't want these types of fights that is fine. Just funny that he beat up a bunch of 155ers in his career...yet when it is "his turn" to be that guy...it is unfair...and "he may lose". And this and that.
 
#99 ·
Just funny that he beat up a bunch of 155ers in his career...yet when it is "his turn" to be that guy...it is unfair...and "he may lose". And this and that.
What are you talking about? Sherk was a WW fighter when he fought GSP, he dropped down to LW later.

BJ Penn was fighting at WW and even MW before resigning with the UFC and fighting GSP at UFC 58 for the #1 WW contender.

The second time Penn was the LW champion and challenged GSP because he wanted 2 belts.

GSP has never beat up on a 155er that wasn't fighting at WW at the time, or wanted the fight.

Slight difference from this situation.
 
#100 ·
Not really... GSP still took that fight with BJ. Even though that fight was at 170... BJ never even made it their. He weighed in at 167lbs or something low like that. So GSP had a Huge advantage over LIL Penn.

And whats real funny he still greased himself up in the fight in between rounds... More Grease then any fighter has ever applied in the history of UFC greasing....
 
#98 ·
Look Anderson Silva isn't being a bully, he's being smart. The way he see's it is there is no one in the middleweight devision that is going to get him the big buck, there's no one that's gonna get 600+ ppv's. He is getting old and he's wanting to earn as much money as he can before he retires. Gsp is the ticket for that..... Not Jones.
 
#101 ·
TheNinja said:
Not really... GSP still took that fight with BJ. Even though that fight was at 170... BJ never even made it their. He weighed in at 167lbs or something low like that. So GSP had a Huge advantage over LIL Penn.
And that is GSPs problem how exactly? Penn was the LW title holder, and challenged GSP for the WW belt as well. He wanted both belts. If he didn't bulk up enough that's not GSPs fault. He took the fight because Penn challenged him, he wasn't going to quit and give Penn the belt when Penn came in a few pounds under weight.

I'm not going to event comment on your grease comment, go back under your rock troll.
 
#108 ·
Agreed they were. Most of those guys are the same size or just taller.

He didn't fight all smaller men. But he fought a few that were deemed as great wins.

But BJ Penn is a badass. He didn't care if he was giving up 20lbs.

Just as GSP was able to wrestle the 6'2 Condit, the 6 foot Hardy, the 6'1 Fitch. He should be able to wrestle the 6'2 Anderson...no? The best wrestler in MMA can't wrestle a 185er with average wrestling? Hmmmm
 
#109 ·
jonnyg4508 said:
GSP made a name fighting much smaller guys. Guys who spent a lot of their careers as 155ers.
He's fought 2 guys that have fought at 155. Sherk and Penn!

Everyone else he's fought has always been a WW fighter, or somebody like Miller and Fitch who have fought at WW, MW, LHW...

I believe Sherk dropped down to LW after the GSP fight, but he had over 30 fights under his belt at WW.

Look at who else GSP has fought... Shields, KOS, Hardy, Alves, Serra, Huges, Trigg, etc.

You're really not making much sense dude..
 
#111 · (Edited)
Matt Serra didn't fight at LW?

Serra and Sherk were both 5'6 midgets. One with a 67 inch reach the other with a massive 68 inch reach.

What don't you get? I am saying to you. He had 2 fights vs. Penn (2 of his biggest wins) 2 fights vs. Serra (1 he lost, other was one of his bigger wins), he foght Sherk once (considered a good win by GSP). Am simply saying 5 of his "good wins" have been against midgets or undersized men. So for anyone to say Anderson is picking on a smaller fighter...is ridiculous. Yea, he is picking on the #2 P4P fighter. Poor GSP. Lets treat GSP as if he is a 22 year old fighter who isn't good when it comes to Silva.

Hey if GSP doesn't want to whatever. I'm just pointing out he has built his name off over matched and very smaller fighters pretending they were WWs. Jon Jones fights guys giving up 4 inches in height, 15-25lbs, and at a foot reach disadvantage each time he defends his title.

But the only time anyone ever complains about size is when ANderson is brought up. I find it odd.
 
#113 ·
And if all you guys want Bones/Anderson....you all know where Bones can find him...185.

But I'm sure you will say neither needs to happen. And we should watch all 3 of them beat some more manufactured contenders.

On one hand people say he is too big. The other hand they say he should go to 170 if he wants to fight him. Makes a ton of sense. Obviously you don't believe Anderson is that big.
 
#116 ·
I really have no clue what Anderson fighting at 205 before has to do with anything? And BJ Penn fought at HW before. Does that mean he should be more inclined to fight HW than Jon Jones who has never been at HW? So because Anderson gets fat and has fought a few times at 205 that means what?

Sure he does. But it would also be nice if GSP just said no I am not fighting Anderson. Then Anderson would just figure something else out.

I miss the old days of fighting. Fighters weren't afraid to lose so much. Weight wasn't everything.
 
#120 ·
Maia and Marquardt made 170. Who's to say Silva can't? He's tall, but his body is built for going up and down in weight. Granted there's his age. Anyway, we're all jumping the gun. Just because GSP shied away from talks of a super-fight after a nearly 18 month layoff and what I can only assume was a very painful bout with Carlos Condit doesn't mean he won't consider the matter in a few weeks, a month, or what-have-you. I might not be so quick to talk about facing the number one striker in MMA whilst I currently look and feel like I just went through a car windshield either.
 
#121 ·
Hendo and Sonnen can't make 185 anymore. Or at least without it hurting their performance. When you get old it is harder on the body to shed that weight. He may be able to make the weight. But what is the point of a superfight if 1 guy is going to kill himself to make a weight?

I think a catch is perfectly fair. If they met at 178 or 180 I don't think Anderson would be anymore than 10-12 lbs heavier on fight night.

Perhaps Anderson will just defend a couple more times at 185 then retire. His time is coming to a close.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top