Anderson Silva looms over Georges St. Pierre-Carlos Condit fight

[Dale]

Georges St-Pierre doesn't care that Anderson Silva plans on sitting front row cageside at Montreal's Bell Centre on Nov. 17. As far as the UFC welterweight champion is concerned, the only thing that matters is his title defense against interim champion Carlos Condit.

"I don't care about Anderson Silva," St-Pierre said on Wednesday. "He can do whatever he wants, he can go to Florida or stay in Brazil if he wants. I'm focusing on Carlos Condit and that's all that matters to me."


But Wednesday's media teleconference with the UFC 154 main eventers made it clear that the middleweight champion's specter won't go away anytime between now through fight night. St-Pierre's return bout since an 18-month absence is an intriguing stylistic matchup, but a potential superfight with Silva has been discussed for years and is now closer than ever.



"There's no doubt Anderson Silva is showing up to cheer Georges St-Pierre on, and he wants him to win this fight," UFC president Dana White said. "He wants to fight him after."


As for Condit, while he has noticed the amount of talk about a St-Pierre vs. Silva fight, that hasn't fooled him into thinking St-Pierre is looking past UFC 154.
"I would say it's motivating," Condit said. "I kind of like playing the role of the spolier. There are lot of people in the sport and in the media overlooking me as an opponent for Georges and looking to a superfight with Anderson Silva. I don't think Georges is overlooking me."


As he has already said several times, White again confirmed that a potential GSP-Silva fight would take place in a major stadium setting -- specifically naming as potential venues Dallas' Cowboys Stadium, Toronto's Rogers Centre, or a TBD soccer stadium in Brazil.


But White, who said the advance gate for UFC 154 is up to $3.1 million, again dropped a reminder that there's still something left before such a date can be booked.
"We gotta see how things thing plays out or whatever," White said. "People ask me, is Silva happening after? He's got to beat Carlos Condit first. Like I said before, people are overlooking Condit and that's a bad idea."

Normally i'd be rooting for Condit to beat GSP, but if GSP winning means we get the superfight with Anderson, i'm down for that

 

[No More Sorrow]

It will be kind of funny though if Condit does play spoiler to that fight.

 

[Slim]

If Condit wins... there will be a riot. This is the fight people have been waiting for. First time Silva ruined it with his antics against Maia. This time... Silva is primed and GSP has to defeat Condit.

I hope GSP beats Condit.

 

[The Cork]

I really hope they bring Anderson in the cage after a close fight only for Condit to be announced the winner and Dana looking at the floor red faced.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

Would Condit be the biggest heel in MMA if he wins? First he runs, then he refuses to fight for a year, then he ruins the GSP-Silva fight...

 

[Deezy]

Condit is no heel, Diaz fans need to learn that he lost, good gameplans are not evil.

Anyways, GSP is a terrible fight for Anderson, what would it prove? That Anderson can beat a smaller opponent? and what happens if he loses to GSP? Legacy shattered.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

Condit is no heel, Diaz fans need to learn that he lost, good gameplans are not evil.

Anyways, GSP is a terrible fight for Anderson, what would it prove? That Anderson can beat a smaller opponent? and what happens if he loses to GSP? Legacy shattered.

I'm only joking about Condy, he didn't run during the Diaz fight, he properly executed the game plan that Guida thought he was doing, the running man tagline just fights considering the douche has sat out for a year while being Interim Champ.

On that train of thought whats the point of Silva VS Jones? Super fights invariably involve a bigger guy fighting a smaller guy, what would Jones beating Silva prove?

 

[Deezy]

I'm only joking about Condy, he didn't run during the Diaz fight, he properly executed the game plan that Guida thought he was doing, the running man tagline just fights considering the douche has sat out for a year while being Interim Champ.

I wasn't directing the gameplan tag on you, just throwing that out there, but I never thought of Condit sitting out as a bad move, it gives that division time to rebuild and ad more contenders and he wouldn't be getting big money by fighting Kampmann or anyone else, Diaz is out and who wants to see Condit vs anyone else? Gotta make the big bucks in a grueling sport fast, all this warrior spirit Jeet Kune Do spiel only works in movies. It's all about making money.

On that train of thought whats the point of Silva VS Jones? Super fights invariably involve a bigger guy fighting a smaller guy, what would Jones beating Silva prove?

Silva and Jones walk around the same weight, it would be a more competitive fight and neither would walk away looking bad, but GSP/Silva would have both guys looking bad, not only would it make WW look feeble compared to MW it would make ANderson look like a bully picking on a guy smaller than him.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

I wasn't directing the gameplan tag on you, just throwing that out there, but I never thought of Condit sitting out as a bad move, it gives that division time to rebuild and ad more contenders and he wouldn't be getting big money by fighting Kampmann or anyone else, Diaz is out and who wants to see Condit vs anyone else? Gotta make the big bucks in a grueling sport fast, all this warrior spirit Jeet Kune Do spiel only works in movies. It's all about making money.



Silva and Jones walk around the same weight, it would be a more competitive fight and neither would walk away looking bad, but GSP/Silva would have both guys looking bad, not only would it make WW look feeble compared to MW it would make ANderson look like a bully picking on a guy smaller than him.

I just hate seeing a healthy Champion sitting out on the sidelines because he's too worried he'll lose his opportunity to fight GSP. He could have made money fighting Kampmann and then made the big bucks fighting GSP, unless he doesn't believe he can beat Kampman, Hendricks and the other contenders. Condit was supposed to be the best WW while GSP was out, he was supposed to fight the top contenders while GSP couldn't. Its the UFCs fault as well for letting him sit on the sidelines and its not like Condit is some huge name that provides a huge fight for GSP. Condit, Kampman, Hendricks, etc there's no real difference in any of them fighting GSP, none of them are MMA superstars so there was no real to preserve a Condit-GSP fight. The MMA community is already looking past Condit and just waiting for this fight to be done so we can hopefully have Silva-GSP.

The bully thing doesnt really apply in MMA, Guys like Rumble Johnson who walks around at 240+ was cuttting down to 170 then ballooning back out to 220, he was a humongous WW, bigger than Silva at MW but he never looked like a bully. And Silva used to fight at WW he can possibly still make the 170 weight limit, and if he could then there goes any ideas of him picking on a smaller guy because as long as the weight matches the day before the fight its all good...

 

[Deezy]

I just hate seeing a healthy Champion sitting out on the sidelines because he's too worried he'll lose his opportunity to fight GSP. He could have made money fighting Kampmann and then made the big bucks fighting GSP, unless he doesn't believe he can beat Kampman, Hendricks and the other contenders. Condit was supposed to be the best WW while GSP was out, he was supposed to fight the top contenders while GSP couldn't. Its the UFCs fault as well for letting him sit on the sidelines and its not like Condit is some huge name that provides a huge fight for GSP. Condit, Kampman, Hendricks, etc there's no real difference in any of them fighting GSP, none of them are MMA superstars so there was no real to preserve a Condit-GSP fight. The MMA community is already looking past Condit and just waiting for this fight to be done so we can hopefully have Silva-GSP.

The bully thing doesnt really apply in MMA, Guys like Rumble Johnson who walks around at 240+ was cuttting down to 170 then ballooning back out to 220, he was a humongous WW, bigger than Silva at MW but he never looked like a bully. And Silva used to fight at WW he can possibly still make the 170 weight limit, and if he could then there goes any ideas of him picking on a smaller guy because as long as the weight matches the day before the fight its all good...

People like Anthony Johnson make the weight cut and are feasibly under a major disadvantage come fight time, there is a reason why the gas tank in people who cut so much weight only goes 1 maybe 2 rounds and thats that. A fight between Anderson and GSP would be a catchweight of 183 lbs. Anderson doesn't have to cut all that much and will not suffer the consequences of major lbs being dropped.

Also, I hate weight cutting just to throw that out there. I used to drop 3 weight classes to ensure I came home with medals and I have kidney problems as a result. It is bullshit and doesn't help much.

 

[Troy]

GSP definitely can't get too far ahead of himself, I want to see how his body holds up after being out injured for so long. It has been a long time since he has had a proper fight so there are no guarantees here. Part of me really wants Condit to win just to ruin this plan, just like part of me wanted Sonnen to defeat Silva when the fight was scheduled to happen in Brazil just to see how the crowd would react.

Even if GSP loses it isn't that big a deal, UFC can then book the proper superfight of Silva vs. Jones. That is a much more even contest than Silva vs. GSP as they match up so well, GSP I just can't see having any chance against Silva.

 

[Dod Draper]

Dana White wants it. Anderson Silva wants it. The fans want it. What do you say, GSP?

With George St-Pierre’s victorious comeback from an ACL injury this past Saturday night in Montreal, speculation is already rife that GSP will clash with Anderson Silva in a UFC megafight. Since I’m not one to beat round the bush, I’m going to toss any future roadblocks aside and speak purely about this theoretical match-up. Nobody wants to read three paragraphs of will they/won’t they. This isn’t How I Met Your Mother.

First of all, what weight will the fight take place at? It makes sense for the fight to take place at a mutual weight; a catchweight of 178lbs. Anderson Silva has indicated in the past that he’d go to 170, but has since distanced himself from that figure and hinted at catchweight. Can GSP make 178? Of course he can. Anderson has never had weight problems, and it’s hard to imagine that 7lbs less than middleweight will be too much of a cut for him.

Who will this catchweight benefit, you ask? I’m inclined to say Anderson, since I’m sure GSP would want to keep this fight to 170lbs as possible. The more Anderson cuts, the more you have to believe it benefits GSP, due to the detrimental effecting of cutting the weight.

The major factor in all of this is Anderson Silva’s size advantage. This is a man who last fought at 205lbs, and is well capable of doing so. Will his size offset GSP’s wrestling advantage? Probably not, but it will definitely make wrestling Anderson and bullying him a tougher task for any welterweight fighter.

How does Anderson cope with wrestlers? Well, we saw in the Sonnen fights that he can be vulnerable to such game-planning, but the extent of such vulnerability is debatable due to the rib injury Silva was supposedly carrying in the first fight. Silva punished Sonnen standing up in their second fight. The difference with GSP, is that GSP isn’t just a wrestler. He’s a lot more well rounded than Chael Sonnen, and has better striking and better jiu-jitsu, which narrows Anderson’s possible methods of victory.

Can GSP match Anderson Silva on their feet? I’m inclined to say no. Whilst GSP has shown extremely effective striking in certain fights, Anderson is on another level to the likes of Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields. GSP has also shown in different fights that he can be rocked. Anderson has heavy-hands, and would be entering the fight with a reach-advantage. Standing, the fight can’t bode well for GSP.

If he can stay out of Anderson’s reach, and be proactive in his takedown attempts, he may be able to grind Silva down, but it all depends on how he copes with Anderson’s size advantage. Silva has shown impressive takedown defense, and surprising strength in the clinch when he’s been pressed against the cage.

Either way, the fight is an extremely exciting possibility. I love watching both fighters and I don’t believe the fight would disappoint.

Verdict? I’m going to say Anderson Silva, TKO, Round 2.

Dod Sports » Weighing Up A Potential GSP vs. Anderson Silva Superfight

As you can tell by the name of the link, I did write this. Sums up my thoughts.

 

[Deezy]

Just a terrible matchup all around for GSP.

That fight would end up like the GSP/Penn fight where one guy looked like he didn't belong there.