The talk of a superfight between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has been a fantasy fight for fans for several years now, but it appears at least one of them isn’t very interested in it actually happening.
UFC president Dana White has stated in the past that he believed both Silva and St-Pierre were on board for the fight, it was always just a matter of the timing working out to make it a reality.
Lately, however, White isn’t seeing that same kind of enthusiasm out of St-Pierre.
Leading up to UFC 162, when Silva faces current top middleweight contender Chris Weidman, St-Pierre has stated time and again that he believes the champion will lose and get finished by the challenger.
“Georges St-Pierre would not even think about this fight (against Anderson Silva) because (Chris Weidman) is going to win, according to Georges St-Pierre,” White stated when speaking to the media on Thursday.
The real question then becomes, were those St-Pierre’s genuine thoughts on the fight or a bit of wishful thinking on the part of the UFC’s top welterweight fighter?
St-Pierre has never openly stated that he actually wanted to face Silva in a superfight no matter how many times the question has been asked. His most recent declaration in support of Weidman speaks volumes about the perception that he has no interest in ever challenging the fighter universally recognized as the greatest of all time.
“There’s no doubt about it. That’s a fact,” White said when asked if it seems St-Pierre isn’t interested in a fight with Silva. “If that was the case, he’d say f—k Weidman, I’ll take that fight, I want that fight, I really think Weidman‘s going to beat him, (but) I don’t want Weidman to have that fight. I want to be the guy to beat him.”
White says there’s no ill will towards St-Pierre if he opts not to take the fight with Silva. Superfights only happen when both parties are willing and want the matchup to happen, and right now it seems St-Pierre isn’t interested.
“At the end of the day he weighs 170 pounds,” White said about St-Pierre. “If he weighed 185 pounds and felt that way, I’d be real pissed.”
The one part of the scenario that White doesn’t quite understand with St-Pierre is how he chose to take a fight at welterweight against a fighter like Johny Hendricks, who could very well end his reign as champion, as opposed to a huge payday and legacy fight against a legend like Silva.
“What’s crazy to me is GSP opted to take a very dangerous fight at 170, without trying to take a dangerous fight at 185,” White stated.
St-Pierre won’t return to action until November when he faces Hendricks for the UFC welterweight title. Any talk about him entering a superfight will have to be shelved until at least after that bout takes place.
No matter what St-Pierre is willing to say, White at least knows one of his champions are on board for the fight to take place.
“Anderson Silva wants to fight a superfight, either way,” White said in closing.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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