Why Anderson Silva MUST Fight Georges St. Pierre in 2010

By Elton Hobson

Why does Scorpion fight Sub-Zero? Why does Freddy fight Jason? Why does Bruce Lee fight Chuck Norris? Why does Rocky fight that genetically altered communist boxing machine? Why does Roddy Piper fight his incredibly durable, disbelieving black friend? (what, you haven't seen the greatest fight scene ever filmed?)



To find out who the best is.


The search for the best is perhaps the one singularly defining characteristic that cuts across all forms of sport. Even in team sports, singular excellence is looked for and applauded. These athletes are exalted beyond all else, and remembered long after their time. They even help to define the sport itself. Hockey has Wayne Gretzky. Basketball has Michael Jordan. Golf has Tiger Woods. NASCAR has Jeff Gordon. And so it goes.


In combat sports, the entirely self-reliant, one-on-one aspect of the sport means the search for the title “best in the world” is all consuming. It is the reason fighters forsake a normal life, devote themselves to gruelling training 7 days a week, and fight other similarly trained monsters in front of thousands of people - just for a shot at being called “the best”.


We remember their names - Muhammed Ali, Mike Tyson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis - long after their careers are over. They are giants, legends, the ultimate incarnations of the larger-then-life giant that you Do. Not. Mess. With.


In decades past, it is the world of boxing that has provided the hallowed “best fighter in the world”. But with the collapse of the Mayweather/Pacquiao super fight earlier this year, boxing has not only shot itself in both feet, it has forsaken the chance to crown the first undisputed, P4P best since the departure of Lennox Lewis (arguably, of Mike Tyson).


There were many reasons offered as to why this fight didn't happen. But whether your on Team Pacquiao or Team Mayweather, the one thing that you can agree on is that more and more, boxing seems incapable of making the fight fans want to see. Blame the huge salaries, the greedy managers, the corrupt promoters, the near infinite number of sanctioning bodies making it impossible to determine exactly who is the champion of what.


Simply enough, it's time for MMA to continue the trend of the last few years, step up where boxing has stumbled, and crown an undisputed P4P best. And the only way to do that is to pit Anderson Silva against Georges St. Pierre - easily be the biggest and most lucrative fight in UFC history.


For the insane amount of hype this hypothetical fight already has, there are many fans who don’t want to see it happen. It’s a mismatch, they say. Anderson Silva already is the #1 P4P fighter in the world, dominating opponents at two different weight classes. GSP, a champion at a lighter weight class, would have nothing to offer him if Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, and Forrest Griffin posed no challenge.


Ok, so Anderson Silva is Morpheus - we already know this. He dodges your punches like a character from The Matrix, and with about as much facial emoting. In 11 UFC fights against some of the best fighters in the world, he has yet to be seriously challenged. Forrest Griffin was embarrassed. James Irvin was never the same again. Rich Franklin probably suffers from some sort of PTSD.


So yes, Anderson Silva is an incredible fighter, a once a generation kind of talent. But what we found out this past Saturday at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi is that he's also incredibly arrogant, easily offended, and really couldn't care less about fan enjoyment.


He also seems to be his own favourite comedian. For 5 rounds, he put on one of the most frustrating and bizarre performances of his career against a game, but very outmatched Demian Maia. Because Demian Maia had the unmitigated gall to claim he might be able to submit him (what did Silva expect him to say? That he doesn't have a chance and shouldn't even bother showing up?) King Anderson decided to put on another 25 minute staring contest, broken up only by his over the top showboating and petulant in ring temper tantrums.


It was one of the biggest debacles in the history of UFC main events, a list Silva's name appears on with alarming frequency, if you recall his snoozers with Thales Leites and Patrick Cote. But hey, maybe Silva had a right to be so insanely insecure about Maia's harmless pre-fight prediction. He's not Superman, folks - and we have seen things resembling holes in his game before.


The consensus opinion is that Silva is just too bored with the mediocre competiton at middleweight, and he decided to express his displeasure by giving the finger to fans, the UFC, and Maia himself (never mind how insane is it that a 5x world champion in BJJ is considered "mediocre competition"). What's needed is a serious big time opponent who can draw in the interest and hopefully get Silva out of bed in the morning.


Like Georges St. Pierre.


GSP has been on an absolute tear recently, defeating arguably better competition then Silva has faced in either weight class. In his six most recent trips to the cage, he’s faced six straight top 10 ranked welterweights. Three were current or former UFC champions. Three were ranked top 10 P4P in the world when he destroyed them. If there was a support group for horribly beaten, overmatched title challengers, it would be filled mostly with GSP opponents - and probably hosted by Jon Fitch.


Plus, every indication is that he’s getting better and better. His trainers have described him as “scary”. Sure, only a few short days ago he was the one facing fan ridicule for his 5 round, play-it-safe domination of overmatched Dan Hardy. But that's ancient history, dude. And besides, Silva's latest "effort" made GSP/Hardy seem like Frye/Takyama. Fan talk seems to indicate he's the one to upset Silva, or at least force him to keep his hands up for most of the match.


There is talk of this fight happening at a catch weight, or of Anderson actually cutting down to 170, which hopefully is nonsense. I mean c’mon - do we want to see an emaciated, dehydrated Silva fight GSP? Would that really answer the question of who is the better fighter? And what if "The Spider" loses? Doesn’t dropping a fights to opponents at a lighter weight basically de-legitimize his title at 185?


No, the unavoidable truth is that Silva is a naturally larger man then GSP. Just like with GSP vs. Penn, the lighter man is going to have to move up and challenge the larger, taking whatever risk that entails. Forcing Silva to cut to 170 punishes him for his genetics, and punishes fans by giving us less then the best either guy has to offer.

Besides, GSP is clearly angling for a move up to middleweight at some point in the near future. Given proper time to bulk up and adjust to the added weight, I think he could be quite successful there. Still sceptical? Check out this video of St. Pierre sparring grappling with Nate Marquardt - if he can hold his own in that department with the sturdy Marquardt, I think his chances with the rest of the division are more then fair.

So assuming St. Pierre's buisness at 170 is finished (which is arguable) he should move up to 185 and challenge for the Middleweight title. That's the only scenario where fans and the sport gets the fight it deserves. Doesn’t matter what your definition of “Pound-for-Pound Best” is, the winner of this fight must certainly be it. Period. End of story.


This fight must get made exactly because MMA is the sport where fights like that get made - right now, when both men are in their primes, not years after the fact - and it would create interest and specacle on a whole new level for the sport of MMA.


Now just book it in Toronto (once the sport becomes regulated here, that is), say at the Rogers Center, and let me watch it live with 75,000 fellow drunken Canadians.