Anderson Silva wants Georges St. Pierre; Dana White wants Silva-Jones
After Anderson Silva‘s expected annihilation of Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153, the obvious question is who will The Spider face next? The answer isn’t so easy.
If you leave it up to the reigning middleweight champion, a highly anticipated showdown with welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is in Silva’s future. It’s either that or another middleweight title defense. But after yet another devastating performance, UFC president Dana White is warming up to the idea of pitting Silva against Jon Jones.
“I will fly down here, I’ll lock myself in a room with Jorge [Guimaraes], Ed Soares and him, and I’ll make this fight,” White said at the UFC 153 post fight press conference. With St-Pierre having to defend his title against Carlos Condit next month, a Silva-GSP mega fight is not a lock. With that in mind, White believes that he’ll be able to make a super fight for Silva next and either Jones or GSP will rake in huge numbers against Silva.
But Silva has been consistent in stating that he has no plans to step into the Octagon with Jones. His reasoning comes courtesy of his age (37) and the fact that he has teammates at 205 that could likely challenge Jones in the near future.
“I’m old, guys,” Silva said. “I’ve only got another five years.”
Even with White being perfectly clear that a showdown with Jones is something he is leaning towards, Silva remained steadfast by shaking his head and wagging his finger in the negative despite White’s pushiness.
“I think (Georges St-Pierre) is a great challenge for me,” Silva said. “I prefer him over Jon Jones. He’s smaller. It’ll be a little bit easier. I’ll be hit less.”
Perhaps protective of his 16-0 record in the UFC, Silva is aware that the remarkable talent, youth and size of Jones could give him a number of problems should they end up facing each other. With two fights left on his current UFC contract, White will go to work soon and place both options on the table. And White believes that the money will entice Silva to take either fight.
“The Georges St-Pierre fight is a big fight,” White said while also mentioning a super fight with either Jones or St-Pierre could take place at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, TX. “I think the Jon Jones fight is a big fight. I know my man says, ‘No, no, no,’ but the amount of money that would be offered for that fight, I guarantee you I will make Anderson Silva say, ‘Yes, yes, yes.'”
Even though Silva playfully shook his head saying no, we all know how much money can talk. However, will it say enough to coax Silva into a showdown with the light heavyweight champ before the Brazilian decides to step away from the sport? Nobody knows, but whether Silva faces Jones or not, the one thing that is for sure is that Silva is one-of-a-kind.
“”I think it will be the end of an era when Anderson Silva retires,” White said. “I don’t know if there will ever be another Anderson Silva. The guy does things other people can’t do.”
Other people, except maybe some young guy named Jonny “Bones” Jones.
