Anderson Silva: GSP is smaller, it will be an easier fight
With Anderson Silva‘s systematic destruction of Stephan Bonnar at 205 lbs. at UFC 153, it is no secret nor surprise that fans and media alike are clamoring for a superfight between two dominant champions. However, this fight is not the oft-discussed match of Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre, but Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. Both Silva and Jones are on record as saying that they are friends who are unwilling to fight one another, and Silva reiterated this after his dominating win on Saturday:
“This is not something I would like to happen because the times I’ve seen Jon Jones, he’s also mentioned that he would not like to fight. No, I’m not going to fight at 205 again, I fought at 205 to save the event. I fight at 185 pounds. I was just doing this to save the event and put on a show for everybody. After Saturday, my focus will be Georges St-Pierre.” – via MMA.tv
Silva appears adamant about never fighting the current king at 205, who is presently focusing on getting his right elbow back to one hundred percent after a brutal Vitor Belfort armbar almost wrested the title from him at UFC 152. But it did not, and now the fight everyone wants to see is Silva-Jones. Still Silva is focused on fighting GSP, for some perhaps very obvious reasons:
“I think [GSP] would be a great challenge for me. I prefer him over Jon Jones. He’s smaller. It’ll be a little bit easier. I’ll be hit less.” – via ESPN.co.uk
Silva is very honest about his intentions of protecting his legacy, as he believes GSP will provide him with a better chance of winning than a fight with the larger Jones. Still, is this the best challenge for him, to fight a smaller champion? Many think not. And many others believe there is still work to be done at 185, with rising contender Chris Weidman clamoring for his chance to face Silva:
“I just feel like some way or another, Anderson Silva is not fighting me. I honestly don’t feel like it’s going to happen. I thought it was the perfect opportunity after the Munoz fight. He said he wanted to fight three months after the Chael Sonnen fight, and it made perfect sense to do it right then. There was no reason not to. He couldn’t come up with an excuse. UFC was asking him to fight me, non-stop, and he put them off and put them off and put them off and then said he doesn’t want to fight until 2013. He can downplay me all he wants. He can say whatever he wants about me, but I beat two top-five guys in the world. Nobody has ever done that in the history of the UFC and not received a title shot. I was hoping it would pay off and get my shot against Anderson, but he’s ducking me.” – via MMAJunkie.com
Who will Anderson Silva face in his next bout, and who should he face? Can Dana White truly get Anderson Silva to accept the Jon Jones fight as he said? Silva says he fights at 185 lbs., but if Weidman is not the most deserving challenger there, then who is? There is a mess on the UFC’s hand, but no matter who he fights, fans will be rushing to watch the Spider’s next bout.
