Anderson Silva will enter UFC 162 looking to defend his middleweight title for the 11th straight time when he faces top contender Chris Weidman, but there seem to be more than a few fighters who believe this fight will end his reign as champion.
At the top of that list is UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who recently spoke out about the fight and overwhelmingly gave his support to Weidman.
“I believe (Weidman) is going to beat Anderson Silva. I believe it’s a bad matchup for Anderson Silva, it’s very bad,” St-Pierre told SportsNet in March.
“Not only is he going to beat him, but I believe he’s going to finish Anderson Silva. I believe he’s not going to be too long in that fight. People will be shocked.”
Now it has to be noted that St-Pierre is a training partner of Weidman‘s when they both work out at Renzo Gracie’s academy in New York City, but still the welterweight champion’s endorsement is a strong indicator of how he believes this fight will break down.
For his part, Silva tries not to listen to much of the chatter about his fights before they take place—especially when it concerns what other fighters have to say.
Everybody has an opinion, but in St-Pierre’s case, Silva did sound a little angered by the comments when speaking to the media during a UFC 162 conference call on Tuesday.
Silva has been gunning for a superfight with the Canadian champion for some time now, but he says that St-Pierre had every chance to accept the challenge and the bout never happened.
“Imagine if I were to start listening to everything that people say. St-Pierre had his chance to pronounce himself about fighting me and he didn’t do it,” Silva told Bleacher Report. “So that’s what he chose to say and that’s fine. But I’m not paying attention to what everyone else is saying.”
UFC President Dana White confirmed that St-Pierre’s belief in Weidman was so strong that he shot down the idea of a superfight against Silva because, after UFC 162, he will no longer be the undisputed middleweight champion of the world.
“He 100 percent, absolutely, positively knows that (Chris) Weidman is going to beat Anderson Silva. No doubt in his mind,” White stated after UFC 160 ended in May.
“The fight with (Anderson Silva) won’t happen because Weidman‘s going to win. There’s no what-if for him. He absolutely, positively knows he’s going to win that fight.”
If Silva does come away victorious on July 6, it will then get very interesting to see if St-Pierre changes his tune at all and would be interested in a potential superfight for the ages with the UFC’s reigning middleweight champion.
St-Pierre’s attention is currently focused on the defense of his welterweight title against Johny Hendricks in November. It’s unknown if Silva would be willing to sit around and wait for St-Pierre or if the fight would ever materialize anyway.
Judging by Silva’s statement, he’s not confident in St-Pierre’s willingness to accept the fight no matter what.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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