Pat Miletich explains his comments on Anderson Silva versus GSP
Last week MMA pioneer Pat Miletich took to the airwaves and made some comments that had people absolutely scratching their heads in disbelief. Stating that Anderson Silva would be a safer fight for Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre than surging likely number one contender Johny Hendricks was bound to gain a lot of ire from the MMA community as a whole. This week, Miletich was interviewed by Bloody Elbow to clarify those statements and perhaps shed some light on his true intentions:
“Simply put, I was saying that Johny Hendricks’ style poses a serious risk due to his punching power and wrestling ability compared to Silva’s lesser wrestling and takedown defense. A loss against Hendricks does real damage and certainly derails the super-fight with Silva. A loss to Anderson does not derail a great career and I’m sure it will contain a much bigger payday for GSP. I honestly doubt, due to style and financial gain, that GSP will choose Hendricks over Silva. Anderson Silva is obviously the top 1 or 2 pound-for-pound guys (ever) on the planet, but styles make match-ups, and bullshit walks and money talks. That’s why I said, if I were GSP, I would choose the Silva fight long before the Hendricks fight.”
These words would definitely seem to be more concise in their message, and maybe his original statement was taken out of context. It is no secret that Hendricks, a two-time national NCAA wrestling champion, has better overall wrestling skills than Anderson Silva. But the fact remains that Anderson Silva is simply the best fighter on the face of the planet today. Until someone beats him, that will not change. One could perhaps make a case for Jon Jones or GSP, but hopefully they will have their day in the cage with Silva. As has been stated before, a loss to Hendricks would ding GSP’s legacy a bit, while a loss to Silva would not be all that surprising. Should GSP take the ‘safe’ route and face The Spider, or should he risk much more in order to defend his long-held Welterweight title?
