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Gsp Camp want silva, but at 170.

7K views 81 replies 48 participants last post by  Sportsman 2.0 
#1 ·
"I wouldn't want [St-Pierre] to move up, I'd want Anderson to come down," said St-Pierre's head trainer, Firas Zahabi, in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. "I don't know if Anderson can make 170 or something close to that. If Georges goes up, I know he won't be able to come back down, he's told me many times if he goes up he won't go back down, and I believe him when he says that because he'd want to spend some serious time getting extra size on him. and, ... I would want [Silva] to come down as close to 170 as possible if that was the case."

You know, the thing is, the next day he'll balloon up over 200, and I don't think that's fair," Zahabi said. "I don't think that's a fair fight. If he can make the cut to 170, that would be great. Georges has to fight everyone at 170, and that's the case. Really I think it would be even and fair. Even if [Silva] would balloon up the next day, he would be weakened by the weight cut, there would be something there.
Source Mma Torch.
 
#2 ·
Didn't Ed Soares once said Anderson was walking around at 225lbs and that he could never make 170lbs?
 
#3 ·
Well with Jones tied up, Bisping and Weidman in the middle of their own thing and Rashad looking to be staying at LHW for the time being, I hope Anderson seriously considers taking the time to make it down to that weight. If GSP wants this fight at 170,fine. His belt should be on the line then in his weight class. If Anderson beats him at his weight class, he takes his belt. Retires as the MW and WW Champ, legacy complete. Call it a day.
 
#5 ·
Man, Anderson isnt making 170lbs and nor should he.

A fight at a catchweight would be fairer but I think Anderson is always going to have the size advantage.

Even at a 178lbs catchweight, on fight night Anderson will probably be weighing in at 200+ whilst GSP is gonna be probably 190ish.

Mark my words, this fight aint happening at any weight.
 
#6 ·
So what even if he has a small size advantage, whatever, more props to GSP if he wins it and no shame if he loses, he was at a size disadvantage against the #1 p4p and at the very least stepped up, and at the most dethroned him.

I mean this was a sport without weight classes and guys like BJ Penn challenging 3 weight classes above even after weight classes. Even now, it's not like the divisions are homogenous in terms of weight, every division has guys that are relatively "bigger" and cut far more weight than others in the division.

This superfight should be about the two best technicians in MMA duking it out to see whose technique is truly the best. Each guy has the technique that has been shown to be the other's kryptonite, GSP with his relentless wrestling, transitions and GnP, and Silva with his one shot accuracy. 8 lbs here or there won't be the deciding factor, the styles themselves will be.
 
#7 ·
Silva weighed in at 202 pounds for a 205 pound fight against Stephan Bonnar. If the fight is at a catchweight of 178 pounds I'm pretty sure Silva will be around the same weight as GSP on fight night, or at worst 5 or 6 pounds more.

I'm not that interested in this fight anymore, since it is quite clear GSP doesn't want this fight at all.
 
#9 ·
It's all a negotiation and Firaz who's ever the intelligent trainer gave a valid counter rebuttal.

It's essentially the same position Ronda has taken except Cyborg has nowhere to go, but down atm.

Anderson can renegotiate to 178, or move on sadly. He hasn't been at 170 in AGES.

There is a flip side to this. Anderson agrees to 170 and that would ALSO mean one important caveat. GSP's title will be on the line.

Now that is CRAZY!
 
#10 ·
People over estimate the advantage weight gives.

I'm not saying weight classes are a bad thing.

When it comes down to the top 3 fighters in the world (jones - silva - gsp), the winner of the fight isnt going to be because of a weight advantage (bar gsp-jones obviously). We've seen Bj penn beat up ww's, frankie edgar beat up lw's, silva beat up lhw's, cain beat up lesnar, kosh beat up johnson, vitor beat up johnson (haha sorry johnson), vitor give jones the fight of his life, hendo knock out fedor... There are SO many more.

More than not, the winner of the fight comes down to who was the better man on fight night. OF COURSE exceptions do exist, but more than not skill is going to beat a weight advantage unless its just insane.

A catch weight is proper simply because of how much silva would have to drain himself to make 170, and at 178 all we are really talking about is gsp cutting a few less and anderson cutting a few more. It's completely fair.

I think GSP is really just scared of getting less endorsements and payed less by sponsors. Right now, the speculation of who is #1 is what makes these fighters get so many deals. I can ensure you the winner of this fight would have millions of dollars waiting for them on Sunday from sponsors and people wanting to endorse the "Undisputed best fighter in the world".

What GSP might not realize though is the amount of money he would get payed by the UFC, Sponsors, and Endorsers for this fight would probably equal out, if not be more than, the amount of money he would be making even if he lost.

Before one says "Silva can fight Jones!!!!", Yes, he absolutely can and jones/silva both said they would fight each other if they had to.

Right now, Uncle Dana wants GSP/Silva. When Jones beat Belfort he wanted Jones/Silva. Uncle Dana doesn't know what he wants, all he knows is he wants silva in a super fight and because silva WANTS gsp, hes trying to make it happen seemingly because he won't have to pay silva/gsp as much to fight as he would silva/jones. That and he knows Jones is fairly young and could do a super fight at heavyweight one day AND that jones plans to. There's simply alot more money in making GSP-Silva happen then Jones-Silva because GSP isn't going to test the waters in a different division because he is too scared to lose.

That's what makes Silva so unique. He's fine with fighting fighters from other divisions, he does want to test himself, he's not scared that he might lose. Jones WANTS to also, but he obviously wants to have a real camp to make sure he doesn't lose.



And dang, just thought of condit @ 185. Lots of interesting fights for him there... though he wouldnt have anything for silva, he could easily be top 5 i think.

There is a flip side to this. Anderson agrees to 170. Crazy...
I could see this happening, but I sure Silva would still want it to be a non title fight, which would destroy the WW division if he did win. Silva stated plenty of time he wants to end his career at 185 and i really don't see him wanting another title. Which really raises questions on what would happen if Silva-Jones fought.. I think Silva wouldn't mind fighting @ 205, its just that nog and machida fight there and because of that its probably not even an nor desire for him to be a champion of a division that a mentor plus a training partner/good friend fight in.
 
#11 ·
Good analysis xP. Name is too long to spell out...haha. There's pros and cons, but ultimately a cathweight is fair to decide who is truly the ABSOLUTE #1 P4P although there is already a huge consensus who that is.

Again this fight is very big for the sport of MMA, but GSP doesn't want it. His camp doesn't want it not unless it's at 170 I suppose now... Anderson may renegoiate or simply call their bluff and say fawk it I'll go down to 170.

Entire GSP team = *Gasp...gulps!*

Oh fawk...*French expletives! _________________ fill in the blank.*
 
#14 ·
The one thing that i just can't figure out is this.

GSP is a guy that strives to do what is best for his career. He tries to win taking the least amount of damage (though ending it early would also have that effect, there is just more risk). He does all the necessary diet and training regimens. He cuts weight properly. He seeks out the best coaches. He follows his gameplan to a tee. He keeps his personal life in check though to not lose any sponsors. Does all the PR the UFC requires. He's soft spoken and respectful (bar diaz). And ultimately, he wins all of his fights by domination.

What most of that comes down to is his mental toughness. There is certainly nothing at all wrong with any of it, in fact, it's pretty much perfect to be a sports icon. Buttttttt, this is my perspective. Each one of GSP's fights eats at his mental toughness. Serra made him realize he could be knocked out, Hughes made him realize he could be submitted, hardy made him realize he still doesn't have his submission game perfected, koscheck made him realize he can be taken down, shields made him realize he could end up getting poked in the eye, alves made him realize he could hurt himself, and (i believe) Condit made him realize sometimes you can't break a fighters will.

All of that sounds absolutely crazy doesn't it? You would think with his performances he would look at it as "I overcame all of these things" but it just seems like he's mentality isn't like that. I also think he's obsessed with perfection. And of all of those things, while just little things to us, are HUGE things to him.


And that's why, though fighting anderson and beating him is no doubt THE BEST thing for his career, he doesn't want to have to change what he's doing right now at 170. He doesn't want to risk having a bad cut, there being a freak accident, him getting knocked out, him getting submitted, anderson not giving up, or him not being able to capitalize on a submission and most importantly having to start the whole perfection process over if he did end up losing because of any of that.

GSP is a worrier and is VERY human in regard to what's possible.
 
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#16 ·
to all the people having a go at GSP.... i dont get the hate, this might surprise everyone, but GSP is thinking of his own WW career over your want for this fight... he has said a long time ago, once he stepped up, he wouldnt be going back down, so why hate on him for wanting the fight at 170??

if its not possible, then its not possible.... they havent said 170 as a concrete dead amount, theyve said ''or as close to that as possible''

whats wrong with that?? he doesnt want to add weight, then drop weight and in turn jepordise his status as WW champion

hes an intelligent fighter and he would want to be at his best to face silva, if that means him fighting in or around 170, then thats just how it has to be, or not at all
 
#18 ·
GSP is such a lil girl... Just come out and say yeah don't want the fight already.. quit making excuses... (And don't give me this crap it's his camp, what they never talk)

Their is a reason Silva, Penn, and Jon Jones will be remembered as greater fighters then GSP.. They took risks and challenged themselves... And fought in more then 1 weigh class
 
#29 ·
Such nonsense. BJ Penn will be remembered as a fighter who half assed his career. And Jon Jones has only ever fought at LHW, where he squares off against substantially smaller fighters with a fraction of his reach. Nice try, sport.

Calling the UFC WW champion a 'wuss' and a 'little girl' as you sit comfortably behind your computer screens. I sure wish I was as tough as some of you.
 
#21 ·
Anderson has faught at 175 before. Mind you this was a long time ago when he didn't have as much size. He was also a lot younger. I really don't see Anderson and his camp agreeing to 170 or 178. That's around 40lbs to cut, maybe more.

The ball is in Anderson's court here. I really don't see this happening.
 
#22 ·
GSP just has OCD, he's a perfectionist who needs every little thing to be just right otherwise it isn't right in his mind. Everything he does, he does it "the right way". That's why he doesn't want to jump up and down in weight, but he would be willing to go up to MW if it was done "the right way" by packing on muscle and permanently changing weight classes.
He is a very safe fighter and person, and quite simply it would be out of character for him to jump up in weight to fight Anderson. I do believe that he would 100% fight him at 170, though, but I dont think Silva is capable of making that cut.
 
#26 ·
We don't know what GSP wants, and until he says something everyone just assumes. Yes, he said before he'd take catchweight. Priorities change. Silva also said he wouldn't fight Sonnen a second time. Things change. GSP could wake up tomorrow and say Fk it, i'm going for it. point is, we dont't know. I have serious doubts he's "afraid". Considering what these guys do for a living, and the type of personality required to succeed, i doubt any top tier fighter in any weight class fears anyone. and I didn't specify anyone with my "hater" remark. But GSP puts on a fight of the night performance against a top guy, and now top control is overrated. he peppers the face off Koschek, and he can't finish. It seems that no matter what he does, someone has something negative to say about it. But then again, if we all had the same opinions, the world would be a pretty boring place.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Perhaps GSP is just building the fight. I agree we jump to conclusions.

But a lot of people here seem to say "GSP obviously doesn't want the fight". His big fans even say this.

I hope he isn't pressured into it. I was just hoping he would look for the ultimate test and a chance to cement his legacy as the best guy ever to be in that cage. There aren't always fights that come along that can grow your legacy like that. But GSP has always been a safe guy.

Anderson has far more to lose here than GSP does. At least in my opinion.
 
#27 ·
I've been thinking about this all night. We've all waited for this and now it's here at our finger tips.

A fight at 178/180 is where it should be so no titles are on the line and it's a tester to see how GSP can hold himself against not only a MW, but the greatest fighter this planet has ever seen.

His trainer stating that it should be at 170 is definitely a weak move, albeit a tactical move. Anderson will lose power, strength, but if this was the early 2000 Anderson it would be pretty evenly matched. The best comparison would be the Carlos Newton fight (ex-UFC WW champ) and look how that ended up.

At this point Anderson can't do it without risking his health. Off season he's 220, training season he's at 202. Cutting 32lbs is gonna have detrimental effect on his conditioning. His skill sets will still be there, but if Anderson does oblige and wins...that will DESTROY GSP's legacy.

So yah meet in the middle. Put on the exhibition fight everyone in the world wants to see.
 
#30 ·
GSP wasn't complaining when BJ Penn was moving up to 170 to fight him. Even though GSP was much bigger than he was. This just goes to show me that GSP is not a warrior. I hate his fighting style because he is only cautious and can not finish anybody anymore. Hell even Chael has finished somebody recently.
 
#33 ·
I'm a huge gsp fan and asking Anderson to go down to 170 is stupid. The longer this goes on, the less and less i'm interested in the fight. At this point I could care less for it.
 
#35 ·
bla bla bla, Anderson could be a LW and he would easily KHTFO anyway, its not his size advantage that will win him the fight, its his striking, thats it

he can be 300 pounds on fight night he still wont stop GSPs TDs, but AS will always catch him at some point during the fight
 
#40 ·
I haven't heard every interview GSP has done, but I have never heard him say he wouldn't fight Anderson. I mean it's only been three days since his fight with Condit. If I was GSP I would be very vague about my intentions in that fight as well. He knows the fans want it, the UFC wants it, and Anderson seems to want it. So if I am the only thing stopping it I might just try and seem a little uninterested to get the UFC to pay me a bunch of money for the fight.
 
#42 ·
It was a setback.

Then it healed. He said he was definatly 100%. He then went through a whole training camp that included extensive work with Tiger MT doing tons of kicks. Then he got in the cage and it held up for 5 whole rounds better than his face.

If he is still deciding then fine. But when your camp comes out and says yea we are ready if you go to 170. It seems as if they really don't want the fight.

So if Anderson makes 170 and wins. Then what? Do we think ANderson is going to stay at 170 and defend that title? The whole talk of 170 is absurd really. It would be funny if ANderson won it though, then said he didn't even want the title when Dana tries to put it on him.
 
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