There are very few mixed martial artists walking this planet who are considered not only one of the best active fighters in the sport today, but one of the best fighters ever.
With so many amazing competitors scattered across the history of MMA, it is quite amazing to consider that two of the best fighters ever are currently active at this present time.
These two fighters are not only considered top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but history will reflect them as two athletes who clearly changed the course of the sport forever through their quality of hand-to-hand combat.
Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva are unique fingerprints that many have and will emulate—but never duplicate. The reason for this emulation and desire to duplicate is simply motivated by the reflection of their tremendous success.
It is not a success that simply implies superiority, it is the kind of success that implies all-time greatness. Over the escalation of their careers, the paths they have followed clearly outline them as unstoppable forces in their respective divisions.
Quite simply, neither man can be touched.
Scores of No. 1 competitors have tried—and every single last one has fallen since the time these two men began their historic runs as UFC champions. It is quite unbelievable given the level of talent roaming the UFC welterweight and middleweight divisions.
With the understanding that they have exercised their domination a mere 15 pounds removed from one another, it is equally astonishing that they have not yet met in a super-fight. They have not avoided one another for lack of interest in that fight by the MMA community; more so that their agendas have led them down different paths.
The idea of a super-fight between “Rush” and “The Spider” is not a new idea. It has been discussed and clamored over for going on three years now. When two men are unbeatable, the only logical answer is to have them fight each other, right?
Not necessarily. A lot of things have happened since the first time this idea came to light. Most notably, the definition of what type of fighters these two men are. It is easy to imagine some type of historic mega-match between two historically untouchable warriors.
What is not so easy is to clearly look at what might actually happen if these two men were locked in a cage together. What it takes to look through the cloud of what if and how, is to once again look at the fighters as individuals—not as a super-fight duo.
Georges St-Pierre, a decent sized welterweight champion who has made a living of perfecting every aspect and angle of MMA that he can possibly define. He has found a way to stop every potential contender flat in their tracks; more often than not beating them so badly that is is quite simply an embarrassment to the losers.
He is a true mosaic of combat arts, and not just a representative of each and every aspect of the fight game. He is an expert, a clinical perfectionist at every turn. If the MMA gods were to handcraft the perfect fighter, the blueprint is without a doubt GSP.
Even with all his success, Rush is a very specific type of fighter. Knowing what type of fighter he is has not been enough to give any opponent an advantage, but he is clearly a cautious, calculated and extremely technical fighter.
There are many things Georges St-Pierre is; one thing he is not is a finisher.
There was a time when he had all the makings of a devastating finisher. There was a time when he cut through opponents like butter. That all changed when he lost his UFC title to a most unexpected TKO at the hands of one of the biggest underdogs this sport has ever known—Matt Serra.
The MMA community saw a change in GSP there after that watched him transform from an aggressive finisher to a more calculated surgeon. He no longer found the fastest way out of a fight more so than he found a way to systematically dismantle his opponents in such a decisive fashion that there could be no doubt as to who the superior fighter may be.
He is an exciting fighter, not a boring decision chaser, but a grinder who stays active and pursues his opponents relentlessly more often than not for 25 minutes. But he is cautious in doing so, and takes few risks when pursuing his victory.
Even by his own admission, it is a desire of his to finish fights, yet the finish remains elusive. This is not an insult to a great champion, it is a clear and present fact about his legacy.
Anderson Silva is a large middleweight champion who has roamed not only his own division but also one 20 pounds north at light heavyweight, with great success. Not simply success but devastating success that left a wake of destroyed fighters in his path.
His frame is large enough to even consider a possible fight at heavyweight given that he walks around at the required weight to compete there. Point being, fighting at middleweight is a tremendous advantage to the Spider, which clearly reflects in the devastation he places on his victims time and time again.
Like GSP, Silva is a calculated and surgical warrior who dissects his opponents with relative ease and leaves them embarrassed and dominated as he raises his hand in victory. Both GSP and Silva share many similar qualities; one clear edge that Silva carries over GSP is the quality of a finisher.
Silva has never suffered that devastating loss that could put a shadow of doubt into his psyche. The closest he came was a 24-minute beating at the hands of a PED-enhanced Chael Sonnen. It ended with Sonnen tapping out to a unsuspected triangle choke, once again leaving Silva a champion after a stunning finish.
Simply put, Silva is a relentless aggressor who taunts and toys with opponents before destroying them.
So getting back to a super-fight between the two top pound-for-pound fighters in the world—is it a fight that anyone really needs to see? Is there any real benefit to watching a tremendous welterweight move up to fight a tremendous middleweight/light heavyweight?
Is there any real benefit to seeing a smaller, more cautious, surgical warrior square off with a significantly larger, equally surgical, but clearly more devastating and aggressive fighter?
For GSP to beat Silva it would more than likely require his survival for 25 minutes inside a cage with a larger, more dangerous opponent, all the while finding a way to penetrate his armor. For Silva to beat GSP it would take nothing more than what he has been doing for years with relative ease against much larger and dangerous opponents than GSP.
Would making this fight even be responsible on the part of the fighters’ camps or the UFC?
The romantic aspect of this super-fight is extremely appealing. The idea of two of the sport’s greatest warriors doing battle is an amazing and tantalizing angle to a growing sport that has not seen this opportunity presented as often as it should have been.
At the end of the day though, it is a fight that simply does not need to happen. After seeing very clearly the approach and actions of both the UFC welterweight and middleweight champions are, it is very clear that the outcome of this fight is much easier to diagnose than those calling for it would have us believe.
A back-and-forth battle between GSP and Silva would be an amazing thing. But the sad truth is, what would most likely happen would be more devastation than many would like to admit.
This journalist, for one, has no interest in watching the legacy of an amazing champion like GSP tarnished by squaring off with a destroyer who walks around at least 30 pounds heavier than GSP.
The allure is there, but the math simply does not add up. How about we start focusing on a super-fight that makes much more sense—and that is a fight between Anderson Silva and Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title.
GSP and Silva just does not make sense when diagnosed with a logical approach.
This article originally featured at Hurtsbad MMA.
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