Media Jon Jones says Andersson Silva was so far ahead of the game he'd still Be a top fighter today

[Richard Fannin]

I know it is, but Silva would probably be a WW in the modern divisions

I don't really know about that... back in the days when the GSP-Silva fight was starting to look like a superfight, Anderson and his manager Ed Soares would often say that he would have zero problem going down to WW and going back to MW.

But when the UFC and GSP said "great, let's do the fight at WW then", it quickly turned into "No I can't make 170 anymore, I'm basically a LHW now, it's 185 or nothing"
(after Silva pissed hot, there were speculations that he couldn't get down in weight because of his steroids addiction, but we didn't have that info at the time)

GSP's camp tried to negotiate some kind of catch-weight they could agree on, because from the start, St-Pierre said that he would have trouble bulking up to MW for one fight, and then going down to WW in a healthy way to quickly defend against the next challenger (that was back when champions were expected to defend as often as possible).
St-Pierre has always said if he ever went to MW, it would be permanent, since he would need 6 to 9 months to bulk up safely (so, not the Murilo "Ninja" Rua school of bulking up to fight Sergei at HW, because PRIDE already had Wanderlei & Shogun at 205 and didn't need a 3rd wheel)

Dana White is mostly at fault for the GSP-Silva fiasco, since he refused to make it worth it to either champion to move up or down in weight.
Instead of negotiating a price that would accommodate both parties, all he did was scream that
>ANDERSON DOESNT WANT TO FIGHT AND HE DOESNT DESERVE TO FIGHT GSP ANYWAY AFTER THE MAIA FIASCO
and
>GSP DOESNT WANT THE FIGHT AND HE HAS A BUM KNEE ANYWAY AND HE DOESNT WANT TO FIGHT BUK-BUK-BUK-BUK-BUUUUK

So neither champion budged, the fanbases kept throwing stuff at each other, and Dana refused to consider catch-weight, why would they with zero extra $$$ incentive and some busy divisions to rule over?

There used to be a pretty extensive page online with all the interviews over the years in Portuguese and French with Anderson & George explaining their sides, but Dana White's HE DONT WANT THE FIGHT #CHICKENS strategy to get either guy to move without having to pay extra bucks from his pockets kinda got stuck in a lot of peoples brains.

That, and the random "news reports" that GSP demanded 50 millions $ to move up to 185, which is ridiculous by today's standards, and was 10 times more ridiculous back then (GSP quickly denied it was true)

I'm trying to find this page right now, I know I've posted it here a few times over the years, but it might take a few minutes to dig that up. It was on one of the big MMA websites, like Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, one of these.

TL;DR: I'm not sure that even in modern divisions, Anderson could safely make 170 to fight Leon or Usman and go back, and has Dana's policy about paying fighters bonuses to fight out of their comfort zone changed that much?

I don't think he ever made it worth it for Anderson to fight Jon Jones, or that might have actually happened, who knows?
I honestly don't know, I don't follow these aspects of the sport as closely as I used to

 

[Tweak896]

I don't really know about that... back in the days when the GSP-Silva fight was starting to look like a superfight, Anderson and his manager Ed Soares would often say that he would have zero problem going down to WW and going back to MW.

But when the UFC and GSP said "great, let's do the fight at WW then", it quickly turned into "No I can't make 170 anymore, I'm basically a LHW now, it's 185 or nothing"
(after Silva pissed hot, there were speculations that he couldn't get down in weight because of his steroids addiction, but we didn't have that info at the time)

GSP's camp tried to negotiate some kind of catch-weight they could agree on, because from the start, St-Pierre said that he would have trouble bulking up to MW for one fight, and then going down to WW in a healthy way to quickly defend against the next challenger (that was back when champions were expected to defend as often as possible).
St-Pierre has always said if he ever went to MW, it would be permanent, since he would need 6 to 9 months to bulk up safely (so, not the Murilo "Ninja" Rua school of bulking up to fight Sergei at HW, because PRIDE already had Wanderlei & Shogun at 205 and didn't need a 3rd wheel)

Dana White is mostly at fault for the GSP-Silva fiasco, since he refused to make it worth it to either champion to move up or down in weight.
Instead of negotiating a price that would accommodate both parties, all he did was scream that
>ANDERSON DOESNT WANT TO FIGHT AND HE DOESNT DESERVE TO FIGHT GSP ANYWAY AFTER THE MAIA FIASCO
and
>GSP DOESNT WANT THE FIGHT AND HE HAS A BUM KNEE ANYWAY AND HE DOESNT WANT TO FIGHT BUK-BUK-BUK-BUK-BUUUUK

So neither champion budged, the fanbases kept throwing stuff at each other, and Dana refused to consider catch-weight, why would they with zero extra $$$ incentive and some busy divisions to rule over?

There used to be a pretty extensive page online with all the interviews over the years in Portuguese and French with Anderson & George explaining their sides, but Dana White's HE DONT WANT THE FIGHT #CHICKENS strategy to get either guy to move without having to pay extra bucks from his pockets kinda got stuck in a lot of peoples brains.

That, and the random "news reports" that GSP demanded 50 millions $ to move up to 185, which is ridiculous by today's standards, and was 10 times more ridiculous back then (GSP quickly denied it was true)

I'm trying to find this page right now, I know I've posted it here a few times over the years, but it might take a few minutes to dig that up. It was on one of the big MMA websites, like Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, one of these.

TL;DR: I'm not sure that even in modern divisions, Anderson could safely make 170 to fight Leon or Usman and go back, and has Dana's policy about paying fighters bonuses to fight out of their comfort zone changed that much?

I don't think he ever made it worth it for Anderson to fight Jon Jones, or that might have actually happened, who knows?
I honestly don't know, I don't follow these aspects of the sport as closely as I used to

That is fascinating, I may have caught an article about the fight leading up around the time they were trying to put it together. I remember UFC was even putting a GSP cam on during a Silva fight. Of all the missed fights that could have been made in UFC history, GSP/Silva has to be the only one I truly wish happened.

I feel like Jones/Silva was kind of unfair with Silva being the old striker and Jones a young wrestler. I know when Silva was making WW he looked like a skeleton and his physique definitely changed around the time he entered UFC. But still, somehow guys like Rumble and Khamzat made WW, I feel like Silva might of made it happen with whatever weight cut guys do today. GSP would probably be a LW.

 

[BowserJr]

I dont see anyone beating him at WW, MW or LHW today other than maybe Poatan but Silva had a GOAT chin in his prime

 

[Domitian]

It’s easier to finish shittier fighters. Fedor is the biggest culprit for glazing guys from 20 years ago who beat up on plumbers. I don’t care if Vitor had one moment in a fight he got dominated in. The evolution has been drastic, not as drastic as the lighter divisions which are light years ahead, but still drastic. Probably only one light year. It’s plain to see and you know nothing about the evolution of the training to say that it isn’t drastic. I would bet you’re also an old guy too, or a young guy trying to seem hardcore

The point was Anderson himself was not a shitty fighter, evidenced by the fact he was finishing roughly 90% of his opponents.

 

[MRudi]

I don’t think he’d be champ today.

MMA is so wrestling/grappling centric nowadays.

These wrestlers would pin him down and grind him out. Pause.

In all together in MW+ you got Chimaev, Ankalaev and Jon Jones as wrestlers. People say Pereira has been carefullt matchmatched to avoid wrestlers, when it mean's he hasn't fought literally single guy.