Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre? No Thanks.

For the past couple of years there has been a couple of fights that have sent fans into a drooling frenzy. Fedor Emilianenko vs. Randy Couture, Fedor vs. Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre. The fight between Couture and Fedor crumbled and will now likely never happen and really shouldn't happen. Brock Lesnar got skullfucked by Cain Velasquez so there is nobody clamoring for that fight anymore. Not to mention M-1 Global is a colossal pain in the dick for anyone that is in the same room with them so why bother. The only one of these fights that have stood the test of time and has not lost any of it's supposed luster is GSP vs. Anderson. For me, there is no luster whatsoever.

When BJ Penn got a bug up his ass and just HAD to fight Georges for the WW strap, the Lightweight title was iced from UFC 84 until UFC 101. That is 17 numbered events and nearly 15 months. There is absolutely no reason a belt should go that long without being defended. Not even Brock Lesnar's diverticulitis shelved the HW belt that long and they even created an interim belt during that time. Shogun Rua's 3rd catastrophic knee injury is not going to put the LHW belt in that long of a hibernation. I can't even stand it when The Ultimate Fighter puts a belt on the shelf, let alone an ill advised venture into another weight class.

If Georges challenges Anderson for the belt that means (assuming Georges beats Kos) the Welterweight belt is going to go undefended for quite some time. Now, after the merger, there are two more belts in the UFC. That may fill the void to an extent but neither Jose Aldo or Dominic Cruz enjoys a sliver of the fan base that GSP has. Those weight classes will need many months of exposure to gain a following that can help it shoulder the load left by an absent Welterweight title.

Furthermore, each of these men still have very viable challengers in their own respective divisions. Georges has of course Koscheck and Shields. On the horizon lies exciting potential showdowns with Carlos Condit, Diego Sanchez and maybe even a rematch with Jon Fitch or a trilogy fight with BJ Penn. Anderson Silva also has a few people knocking on his door. Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami and Chael Sonnen all have plans to be the man to dethrone "The Spider". There is no reason to deny any of those challengers their shot at the title for the sake of buyrates or some convoluted idea of determining the pound for pound best.

Speaking of being the pound for pound best....who really gives a shit? P4P is an absurd debate. Who would win in a fight between Fedor and Dominic Cruz? Jeez, I wonder. It's ridiculous. The bigger man wins more often than not and that is exactly what I feel the result will be in the Anderson and Georges fight. I believe that Anderson Silva beats Georges St. Pierre 9 out of 10 times. Georges is too small to fight at Middleweight and he is at a significant disadvantage because of it.

The bottom line is that the risk is not worth the reward. Whoever loses the fight loses so much of their mystique. There is no need to compromise ones legacy and potentially the remainder of their career for one fight. If they fight it does absolutely nothing to settle any stupid p4p argument and it only damages their respective divisions. They will each retire as the best their weight classes have ever seen. There is no reason to compromise that for one fight out of their division that in the grand scheme of things is utterly meaningless. I hope that Dana White and company only give this fight a second of thought if GSP and Anderson both lose their belts in their next fight. Unless that happens, keep them away from each other.

1 comment:

  1. I agree. I mean, I'd definitely watch it but I think the biggest drawback is the loss of "mystique". Not only that, if GSP wins everybody will say that Silva is slowing down and is older than GSP and that they should have fought in Silva's prime. I do think Silva is slowing down and as a huge Silva fan this fight would worry me. GSP will take him down. We know that he probably won't finish him but can he hold him down for five rounds without Silva getting up and catching him or even pulling off a sub? I'd rather leave it up to speculation but it may be I'm just scared for Silva in this fight.

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