Before all the chatter of Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva and then Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones, there was an actual super fight, all the way back at UFC 94, where GSP mopped the floor with BJ Penn.
Remember it? Recall those extra goosebumps that sprung to life, perking up over the idea of “The Prodigy” moving back up in weight to take on the impossible task of toppling GSP.
Guys have been moving up or down in weight class for some time now, but rarely has a fight ever materialized that gave us what is worthy of being dubbed a “super fight.” It is not every day a GSP vs. BJ Penn or Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia fight falls into our laps.
Now, however, there is Anthony Pettis vs. Jose Aldo, and if it officially goes through, it will be the truest, most intriguing super fight ever.
Timing
The timing of this fight is excellent for a variety of reasons.
First off, Anderson Silva is recovering from injury, GSP took an indefinite leave from MMA and heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez appears to be running on Windows XP while the rest of the division is stuck on Vista.
The UFC needs a big-time fight, and with Pettis vs. Aldo, they certainly have one.
This isn’t all I mean by “timing,” though. The timing is ideal for the competitors, too.
Anthony Pettis and Jose Aldo look to be in the prime of their careers, and if the fight takes place in late summer/early fall as expected, we get to see the two wage war while operating in peak form.
That’s awesome.
History
Pettis and Aldo were supposed to fight at UFC 163, remember?
The possibility of this fight caused a significant buzz in the MMA community…and then we were all let down when Pettis pulled out of the bout with a knee injury.
Now, we get some closure on this unfulfilled hype.
Even better, this super fight—unlike GSP vs. Penn at UFC 94—represents the first time the combatants have fought. GSP had beaten Penn at UFC 58, and the Canadian grew more and more dominant every day after that victory. Their super fight at UFC 94 had a high “one-sided beatdown” potential (and it was just that in execution).
Pettis vs. Aldo, on the other hand, possesses no tangible historical context, just a fight announcement that never came to fruition. We don’t really know how this fight is going to go, and we have no idea how these fighters will react to each others’ incredible skill sets.
This makes a potential showdown even juicier. I’m ready to see this go down tomorrow, please (and I’m not alone).
Styles
If a super fight manifests itself, you’d probably be pretty satisfied if it was between two champions who also happened to be the most technically refined and devastating strikers in their division, right?
Lucky you…
This point pretty much describes itself. Pettis and Aldo are striking wizards with knockout power from anywhere and at any time, so fans would be on edge for the bout’s entirety.
Even better, neither guy prefers to take the fight to the ground as a first option, so we would see their striking excellence in full glory.
Compared to other super fights, this one is the best
All things considered, this is the truest super fight in UFC history.
Take Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia first. Couture was coming out of retirement, he was ancient and many felt he was far removed from his athletic prime. This ended up being a hugely entertaining and surprising fight, but, on paper, Pettis vs. Aldo is more intriguing due to the fact that each man is a current champion in the prime of his fighting days.
The other big-time option, GSP vs. Penn II, as mentioned before, lost some appeal because it was a rematch. The sheer shock value of seeing GSP and Penn in the same cage at the same time was not there at UFC 94.
The mystery of how Pettis vs. Aldo will play out makes it a cut above GSP vs. Penn II because of this.
So, while GSP vs. Silva, Silva vs. Jones and Anthony Perosh vs. Mostapha Al-Turk might never happen, super fights are a reality.
And this matchup is the best one ever.
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