MMA fans can’t have their cake and eat it too, especially when it comes to a potential superfight between Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.
According to trainer Firas Zahabi, St-Pierre is finally open to moving up in weight and challenging Silva to a superfight.
Most of you are probably howling at the moon and doing backflips right about now, but as with everything in life, there is always a catch.
If St-Pierre moves up to fight Silva, it would likely mean the end of his UFC career. Luckily, the UFC has options regarding its biggest pay-per-view draw. Original plans could continue and St-Pierre could defend his UFC title against top welterweight contender Johny Hendricks.
While it isn’t the superfight fans have been waiting to see, it is a highly anticipated bout that would ultimately prolong St-Pierre’s stay in the UFC.
“The UFC is going to obviously tell us what they want to do. I think Georges would do either fight to be honest with you,” Zahabi said during an appearance on Sherdog Radio Network’s “Cheap Seats” show.
“If he fights Hendricks, I think [St-Pierre] could fight for longer. He could have more fights after that. If he fights Anderson Silva, I could really see that being his last fight. He’ll retire after that because there won’t be a bigger fight for him to do, I think, anymore in his career.”
This certainly isn’t good news for Hendricks, who is constantly being leapfrogged in the welterweight title picture.
Fans have salivated over a potential GSP-Silva superfight for years, and it’s tough to see the UFC passing up this rare opportunity.
UFC president Dana White has tried many times to put the superfight together, but plans always fell through due to St-Pierre’s hesitance to move up in weight. Now the ball is truly in the UFC’s court to either make the superfight or risk St-Pierre losing to Hendricks.
This is all assuming Silva makes it past undefeated contender Chris Weidman in July. St-Pierre has already gone on record in predicting Weidman would finish Silva and become the new middleweight champion.
If things stay on track, the wheels could be set in motion for St-Pierre’s swan song, and there is no better sendoff than a once-in-a-lifetime bout against the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“Win or lose, I think he’ll probably end on that note, on Anderson Silva,” Zahabi said. “Maybe that’s why it’s been pushed back a little bit, but I think when it does happen, it’ll be the last one because once he goes up a weight class, he’s never coming back down.”
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