If Anderson Silva wants a Super Fight with Georges St-Pierre next year and the mega pay-day that goes along with it, there should be one condition attached: he hands over the UFC Middleweight Championship.
For the first time in years, there is a queue of contenders forming in the 185lbs division.
The days of Patrick Cote and Thales Leites ‘earning’ title shots are seemingly over with the likes of Chris Weidman, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher clawing themselves into contention and Michael Bisping and Brian Stann still in the mix.
At 37 years old, ‘The Spider’ has made it clear that his days of fighting 3-4 times a year are over. Silva has already said that he won’t fight again in 2012 and by February 2013 he will have fought just twice in two years.
So with Anderson Silva fights becoming as rare as Aussies winning in the Octagon, it is not fair to the growing list of contenders that he should be allowed to hold up the division, possibly until 2014.
Regardless of how much or little hope you give of these contenders challenging the champ, a title holder should have to defend his belt at least annually if he is fit to do so.
Let’s take Weidman as an example. He is 28 years old, undefeated and has recently beaten top contenders Mark Munoz and Demian Maia.
He’s young, fit and has the momentum of a runaway freight train right now. Should he be expected to stumble through meaningless fights for another fifteen months? Of course not, one more win over a top contender and it’s his time.
Silva has made it quite clear lately that facing the best Middleweight contenders is no longer the his priority, with money and exposure now at the forefront of his thinking.
Just this week he said he wants to fight St-Pierre even if he loses to Carlos Condit at UFC 154 in December.
That is irrational.
If Silva was seriously concerned by the lack of contenders to his title, he should want to fight the best at Welterweight (which could be Condit), not the guy who will make him the most money.
By the way, we won’t even get into the queue at Welterweight or the fact there is a number one contender fight also coming up between Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann. I guess they’re just supposed to wait too.
Silva should only agree to this Super Fight if has no interest in holding and defending the Middleweight championship again. Until that occurs, GSP vs Silva should remain in MMA fans’ dreams.
Jarod
Guest
I'm talking about 2013. Dana said he wouldn't fight in 2012. The author of this article said after Silva fought GSP which would be early in 2013 he didn't think he would fight at all for the rest of 2013. That's what I'm questioning.
Ronnie Liddle
Roar Rookie
Why do you think Silva won’t fight at all in the other nine months left in 2013? ***Because Dana said he wouldnt fight for the rest of the year at the press conference after defeating chael. then silva said he offered to fight on the 151 card against any LHW to try and save the card. go figure. the challenge the UFC has right now. champions deciding who and when they will fight next. Dana can't hold a gun to their head JDS will fight twice this year, Sliva once this year, GSP once this year and Jones will fight... how many events vs how many maincard title fights? their band is getting diluted.
mushi
Guest
Wouldn't a far more sensible stipulation be he has to fight a middle weight contender that year as well?
Jarod
Guest
To say Anderson has to give up the belt in order to fight GSP doesn't make sense. If Silva and GSP fight it'll probably be around March of next year. Why do you think Silva won't fight at all in the other nine months left in 2013? Maybe by the time Silva and GSP fight, Weidmen has that one more win against another top contender. Then the fight between Silva and Weidmen will make perfect sense. The fight between Silva and GSP is just too good of a deal to pass up on if both fighters are willing to go at it.
Joel Smith
Roar Rookie
Agree, but if Silva won't fight the contenders then what do you do?
Joel Smith
Roar Rookie
If Anderson fights GSP next year it will be his one fight for the year. No Middleweight contender will get a title fight until 2014.
Jon
Guest
When has Anderson not fought at least once a year? He's fought every single year. What are you talking about?
Jon
Guest
Ridiculous. Anyone who calls themselves middleweight champ but hasn't fought Anderson Silva is a paper champ, a sham belt holder. It would be meaningless and a farce to give the belt to someone who hasn't beaten Silva.
Joe Jitsu
Guest
Then, when Anderson destroys Georges, then what does he do? Now he may be nearing his end, but who's to say that Georges would be his last fight? Let me guess, he should go up to light heavy right? By then hes 40 years old, and really nearing his end. Which sounds pretty dangerous even for him. Dude doesnt really care about the belts or the sport at all, just another Silva hater. Go jerk off to pictures of GSP. And a champion SHOULD at least fight once a year to keep the belt, you're right. And then the next paragraph, hes fought twice in two years. 2/2= one year yay!!!! PS weidman+belcher+bisping+boetsch+stann ALL CANS
Joel Smith
Roar Rookie
- GSP has been out for a year with a torn ACL and has shown a willingness to fight often when uninjured. The Welterweight division would not be held up for too long. - We don't need 3-4 Middleweight title fights a year, but we need at least one a year. The 'rookie Weidman'? You mean the 9-0 rookie Weidman who's just defeated Maia and Munoz. Jon Jones was a 'rookie' 15 months ago. - Never said I don't want to see them fight, but belts are irrelevant in this fight. We're not trying to see who will be the Middleweight or Welterweight champ, we're trying to find out who the best fighter of an era is. It transcends belts. If Anderson cares more about the biggest drawing fights rather than defending the title then it's time for him to hand it over.
Jason
Guest
Same problem as almost all combat sports have. The champ literally has nothing to gain and everything to loose, any wonder they're unwilling to fight often?
Henry
Guest
Stupidest article ever... Why shouldn't St. Pierre have to give up his belt then? He's fought less than Silva, and like a total pussy at that. We don't need 3-4 middleweight title fights a year. We need contenders that could actually challenge Anderson Silva. Who wants to watch him dismantle rookie Weidman? If you really don't want to see two of the best p4p fighters meet their is something wrong with you.