For the moment, there is little debate over who is the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
Anderson Silva is the GOAT and has been for some years now, after building a resume that not even two disastrous losses to Chris Weidman could undercut last year. With current stars like Jon Jones and Jose Aldo still building their cases and legends like Royce Gracie, Matt Hughes and Fedor Emelianenko fading further into the past all the time, Silva’s claim to the throne appears safe.
Or does it?
With The Spider set to return to the UFC in January and reports that Georges St-Pierre is also training for a potential comeback, could the mantle of greatest of all time actually be up for grabs during 2015?
Maybe, if things work out a certain way.
Here’s what we know for sure: When Silva reappears at UFC 183, it will be against welterweight Nick Diaz, not Weidman. In fact, despite claims he re-upped on an insane new deal with the UFC over the weekend, the former middleweight champion appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach to reclaiming his title.
If it happens, it happens, Silva seems to say. If not, no big deal.
Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White confirmed last month that St-Pierre would likely qualify for an immediate shot at the 170-pound championship, if and when he returns.
So imagine, if you will, a scenario where St-Pierre emerges from his self-imposed hiatus and promptly wins back the welterweight title he never lost. It would mark the French Canadian phenom’s third run with the 170-pound belt (not counting his short stint as interim champ in 2007-08), extend his unbeaten streak to 13 fights and reaffirm his position at the top of a division he’s dominated fairly comprehensively since 2006.
Oh, and it would also likely re-establish him as the biggest pay-per-view draw the sport has ever known. So, not too shabby.
Meanwhile, Silva returns at 39 years old and is coming off back-to-back losses. His bout against Diaz seems specifically designed to earn both fighters a lot of money and get Silva back in the win column via a short-and-sweet knockout. But it won’t be a particularly relevant affair—barring the unlikely event of a Diaz victory, that is.
We also know Silva will coach a season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil opposite Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, a decision that could keep him off all but the most hardcore fans’ radar for a few months next year. He and Rua won’t fight each other when the show wraps, so Silva’s future beyond Diaz is entirely uncertain.
He might jump back into the thick of the 185-pound title hunt, or he might not. It’s possible he spends the twilight of his career picking off more-or-less handpicked opponents in high-profile superfights that end up looking pretty but don’t necessarily amount to much besides some big paychecks.
There’s also the possibility that, if he did indeed works his way back into a third fight with Weidman, he might lose. Again.
Not saying any of the above would put St-Pierre leaps and bounds ahead of Silva in the pantheon of our sport’s great fighters, but it might at least necessitate a change in conversation.
Even before both their careers were unexpectedly interrupted at the end of 2013, the argument for Silva over St-Pierre was always a close one.
Silva is six years older and has been an active fighter four-and-a-half years longer, but GSP had been in the UFC for two-and-a-half years and eight fights before the Brazilian arrived. Their career records are eerily similar—especially considering GSP lost significant time to a knee injury in 2011-12. Silva stands at 33-6 overall (16-2 in the UFC), while St-Pierre is 25-2 (20-2).
Previous to 2013, you could’ve held GSP’s two Octagon losses to Hughes and Matt Serra against him, but Silva’s more recent defeats to Weidman make them a moot point.
Fans would likely tell you Silva was more dominant throughout his career, because his knockout-friendly striking style has always been easier to embrace. He also had success in different weight classes, first as a welterweight early in his fighting days, later against middling light heavyweight opponents in the UFC. Then again, he also cooked up a couple of middleweight stinkers back in 2008-09.
Meanwhile, St-Pierre fought arguably the tougher overall slate of opponents and dominated the rest of the best welterweights in the world without so much as losing a round for as many as nine fights running.
Silva survived a close call against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, while St-Pierre had one against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
The truth of it is, there’s not much separating these two, even now. It’s close to a push, with Silva holding a slim edge for GOAT status based mostly on style points.
That makes 2015 seem sort of important. What if GSP returns firing on all cylinders and The Spider appears in decline? Could he pass Silva on the list of all-time greats?
Obviously, many things could still happen to change this argument. Silva could return looking reinvigorated and once against rule the 185-pound division with extreme prejudice. St-Pierre could prove to be a lesser version of himself, in the wake of a second major knee surgery during 2014. Or he might not return at all.
Or, just to make things even more complicated, the long-discussed superfight between the two could finally become a reality.
Perhaps it’s too early to tell with any certainty what will occur, but if both Silva and St-Pierre end up returning to the Octagon, the discussion about who is the greatest of all time might be a lot more interesting than it has been in years.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com