Anderson Silva Contemplating Vacating Middleweight Title, To Fight GSP At 170

[No More Sorrow]

Here's one way to solve the 185-pound problem the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is having -- have the champion vacate the title and move down to become a 170-pound problem.

That's apparently a move Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva is considering now that the list of contenders in the weight class he's owned for six years now is less than appetizing. During a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed a conversation he had with higher ups at the UFC who told him he could reveal a few possibilities that could play themselves out in the future, likely sometime next year.


This is all subject to change, of course, but apparently, "The Spider" is kicking around the notion of vacating the middleweight title and moving down to welterweight to challenge division champion Georges St. Pierre for a superfight we know the promotion is already hoping to put together assuming "Rush" is able to defeat Carlos Condit when they tussle at UFC 154 in November.


That would free up the middleweight strap to a whole host of contenders who would no longer be under the long shadow cast by Silva, the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.


Interestingly enough, that could also be the reason Lyoto Machida came into his UFC on Fox 4 bout against Ryan Bader weighing just 201-pounds. He was a lean, mean ass-kicking machine and his knockout victory was so impressive, he earned a light heavyweight title shot with it.


But he may have his eyes set on the belt Silva currently has around his waist.

This is one way to solve the issue, I'd be all for this if it were to happen. Be a nice way to start a tournament for the then vacated MW title.

 

[Slim]

That... would be immensely awesome. But how lean would Silva be at 170 though? That is the only question cause right now at 185 he isn't like big or anything but at 170? I dunno.

It'd def help the middleweight division and plus GSP is going to get past Condit and that would mean super fight that has been said would never happen could very well happen. That only leaves the question about Machida. He does have a light heavyweight title fight to contend... but after that is he dropping weight? Well that is if he were to lose.

 

[Dademo]

If Anderson drops the MW belt, then I hope he plans on having a legit reign as WW champ. This means fighting GSP, possibly Rory McDonald, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, etc.

 

[The Cork]

It screams one and done, IMO.

Can't see him going on @ 170 basically killing himself to make weight. At nearly 40 yrs old, you'd think beating GSP would be a great way to go out. The only other test would be Jon Jones, which isn't gonna happen.