Report: Anderson Silva contemplating vacating middleweight title, move to welterweight to fight Georges St. Pierre

Quote :

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.



Indeed, UFC President Dana White revealed Ed Soares, who manages both Silva and Machida, told the bossman he needed to have a conversation with him over the weekend during the "Shogun vs. Vera" event. That talk never happened so the details aren't available but it's entirely possible, this could be what he wanted to discuss.

Now that Machida has earned a shot at the 205-pound title, plans have either changed or been put on hold. Assuming "The Dragon" loses to Jon Jones in a rematch, or Dan Henderson if he wins the belt at UFC 151 in Las Vegas, that would finally free him up to switch weight classes.

There's no telling whether or not any of that will happen, but it's something to consider.

Plus, as mentioned previously, this is assuming St. Pierre defeats Condit later this year to retain his title to maintain the appeal of a superfight between the two top pound-for-pound fighters on Earth.

It should be noted that it's entirely possible any number of scenarios play out that put a stop to all this talk but with the current climate at middleweight and Silva's unwillingness to move up to light heavyweight, it seems downright logical that he move down for a match-up that would unquestionably be the biggest of all time.

Here's to hoping it happens.

http://www.mmamania.com/2012/8/7/3226663/report-anderson-silva-vacate-middleweight-title-welterweight-georges-st-pierre-fight-ufc

snap

though the source is very sketchy

100% BS. He's trying to bait GSP to move up. I don't believe a word that comes out of Brasil.

This is such bullshit. He'd do anything to never fight Jones.

What, no one is asking him to fight Jones! If he can make the cut more power to him. He has fought at WW before. Besides, if GSP won't go up to fight him he might as well drop down.... Huh freak?

GSP isn't complaining about fighting anyone in his division. He still has Condit, Diaz and maybe Hendricks that deserve a shot. Anderson doesn't want to fight anyone in his division or the fight everyone wants to see and that's against Jones.

the one superfight everyone has been asking for is gsp vs spider... just recently has jones got in the picture.

I don't want GSP vs Anderson.

freakzilla wrote:

I don't want GSP vs Anderson.

Me either. I don't want to see this fight even a little bit. However, trying to spin this as ducking Jones is just silly. Anderson may have fought at LHW more recently but he has competed at WW and his natural walking around weight is closer to GSP's then it is Jones'.

OU wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

I don't want GSP vs Anderson.

Me either. I don't want to see this fight even a little bit. However, trying to spin this as ducking Jones is just silly. Anderson may have fought at LHW more recently but he has competed at WW and his natural walking around weight is closer to GSP's then it is Jones'.

No it isn't. Their walking around weight is about-

Jon Jones= 225-233
Anderson Silva= 210-220
GSP= 188-192

freakzilla wrote:

OU wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

I don't want GSP vs Anderson.

Me either. I don't want to see this fight even a little bit. However, trying to spin this as ducking Jones is just silly. Anderson may have fought at LHW more recently but he has competed at WW and his natural walking around weight is closer to GSP's then it is Jones'.

No it isn't. Their walking around weight is about-

Jon Jones= 225-233
Anderson Silva= 210-220
GSP= 188-192

I would be willing to bet that most days of the year Anderson is closer in weight to GSP then he is to Jones. I don't think Anderson is pushing 220 very often. I think it would be a safe bet.

OU wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

OU wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

I don't want GSP vs Anderson.

Me either. I don't want to see this fight even a little bit. However, trying to spin this as ducking Jones is just silly. Anderson may have fought at LHW more recently but he has competed at WW and his natural walking around weight is closer to GSP's then it is Jones'.

No it isn't. Their walking around weight is about-

Jon Jones= 225-233
Anderson Silva= 210-220
GSP= 188-192

I would be willing to bet that most days of the year Anderson is closer in weight to GSP then he is to Jones. I don't think Anderson is pushing 220 very often. I think it would be a safe bet.

I saw Ed say in an interview he walks around at 215.

freakzilla wrote:

OU wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

OU wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

I don't want GSP vs Anderson.

Me either. I don't want to see this fight even a little bit. However, trying to spin this as ducking Jones is just silly. Anderson may have fought at LHW more recently but he has competed at WW and his natural walking around weight is closer to GSP's then it is Jones'.

No it isn't. Their walking around weight is about-

Jon Jones= 225-233
Anderson Silva= 210-220
GSP= 188-192

I would be willing to bet that most days of the year Anderson is closer in weight to GSP then he is to Jones. I don't think Anderson is pushing 220 very often. I think it would be a safe bet.

I saw Ed say in an interview he walks around at 215.

Well GSP entered the cage vs Jake Sheilds weighing 192-193lbs. So he was obviously closer to 200lbs before starting his cut.
http://www.mmamania.com/2011/4/28/2140227/ufc-quick-quote-georges-st-pierre-could-weigh-as-much-as-193-pounds

GSP said he always walks around between 188-192. I saw an interview and he said it himself. He also said he wouldn't go up to MW until he walked around at 200.

Like I said before even though vitor got ko'd we need the rematch being he is the second best striker in the MW division and rashad needs to move down and fight spider as well. When he beats these two he can do what he pleases. Bisping could be worthy but meh......

Horrible idea, Silva should not be moving down at his age.

Ali wrote:

Horrible idea, Silva should not be moving down at his age.

But going up to fight an even younger, bigger and stronger Jones is?

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Horrible idea, Silva should not be moving down at his age.

But going up to fight an even younger, bigger and stronger Jones is?

Silva could move up to LHW if he wanted to but he's shown no desire to.

Frankly Silva should really be thinking about an exit strategy, father time will catch up with him.

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Horrible idea, Silva should not be moving down at his age.

But going up to fight an even younger, bigger and stronger Jones is?

Silva could move up to LHW if he wanted to but he's shown no desire to.

Frankly Silva should really be thinking about an exit strategy, father time will catch up with him.

Obviously he could also move down to WW if he wanted to, or they wouldn't have brought this up. So what's the real issue here?

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Horrible idea, Silva should not be moving down at his age.

But going up to fight an even younger, bigger and stronger Jones is?

Silva could move up to LHW if he wanted to but he's shown no desire to.

Frankly Silva should really be thinking about an exit strategy, father time will catch up with him.

Obviously he could also move down to WW if he wanted to, or they wouldn't have brought this up. So what's the real issue here?

Let me rephrase Silva has the frame and attritubutes to move up and be succesful, a move down would risk his health from having to drain that weight and Silva could lose his reflexes.

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

OU wrote:

Ali wrote:

Horrible idea, Silva should not be moving down at his age.

But going up to fight an even younger, bigger and stronger Jones is?

Silva could move up to LHW if he wanted to but he's shown no desire to.

Frankly Silva should really be thinking about an exit strategy, father time will catch up with him.

Obviously he could also move down to WW if he wanted to, or they wouldn't have brought this up. So what's the real issue here?

Let me rephrase Silva has the frame and attritubutes to move up and be succesful, a move down would risk his health from having to drain that weight and Silva could lose his reflexes.

I seriously doubt that at his age and with all he has accomplished he would do anything to risk his health. He don't want GSP that damn bad. You never know how the cut would go, but I doubt he would step in the cage with GSP if he wasn't healthy and confident he was going to win.

As you age it becomes more difficult to lose weight, your metabolism slows down, why usually older fighters tend to move up in weight. Silva walks around over 200lbs so unless he drastically alters his diet I don't see this working well.

Continue at MW and wait for GSP to move up.
Move up to LHW
Or retire.

Id respect Silva big time if he did this, but I think it's a bunch if bullshit to avoid a tough fight at 185lbs. I let you guys guess who that young undefeated guy is.....

Ali wrote:

As you age it becomes more difficult to lose weight, your metabolism slows down, why usually older fighters tend to move up in weight. Silva walks around over 200lbs so unless he drastically alters his diet I don't see this working well.

Continue at MW and wait for GSP to move up.
Move up to LHW
Or retire.

Yeah I'm well aware of the changes in the body. What I'm saying is that Anderson and the people around him have a better idea of what his body is capable of then we do. You are assuming they are going to put Anderson at risk and that just isn't going to happen. He won't cut unless he can do it safely and be effective. His camp isn't going to put his health and career at risk. You don't need to worry about that.