Silva vs St-Pierre the greatest fight that never was

[Iron Nick]

We're talking about goat fighters here. Lets get serious. Everyone knows GSP while a nice guy is a play it safe sissy. I wouldnt even consider him a true fighter. He is just another Ben Askren. Ben Askrens of the world cant be in GOAT contendership by winning on technicalities.

Anderson Silva is true master of martial ARTs. The man plays in there. GSP will never be in the same league as an Anderson Silva. Thats ridiculous.

Pretty sure GSP is almost the blue-print of what a perfect ambassafor for martial arts would look like.
I get what you mean with Silva probably taking more risks, but that still, MMA is about winning and GSP did so in a damn impressive manner.

 

[AlwaysWonder]

"cherry picking" GSP's opponents he won against during his time in the UFC have a better combined record than Silva's opponents under the same circumstances.
338W-57L against 264W-71L - i wonder which one is better..
(These numbers do by the way not include double fights.)

You cant be dominant by just holding someone down. That's not dominance. Thats playing it safe. You dont get be the best by playing it safe.

Anderson Silva will go down in history books with far more impressive highlight reel and skill level. A true guru.

 

[AlwaysWonder]

GSP nuthuggers voting for their boy. GSP would stood absolutely no chance at all. Would get recked, KOd at the center of the cage and never recovered from that loss. Silva would have retired GSP.

Amen.

 

[Wet Blanket]

GSP 50-45

 

[AlwaysWonder]

GSP refused to fight Silva at 185, but happily fought at that weight for the much easier Bisping title fight

There is no defending GSP here

Amen.

 

[Saku'sEar]

Just cause silva fought at welterweight early doesnt mean he could easily make it again. In fact it would have been very bad for his health if he tried. He fought at light heavyweight and looked like he was there his entire career

Roids...

 

[Iron Nick]

You cant be dominant by just holding someone down. That's not dominance. Thats playing it safe. You dont get be the best by playing it safe.

Anderson Silva will go down in history books with far more impressive highlight reel and skill level. A true guru.

GSP way more well-rounded. Silva having severe difficulties with Sonnen and Weidman should tell you that.
Also, "playing it safe" is just as legitimate as fighting risky. Difference is, fighting less risky makes you most of the times way more likely to succeed - which is what sports is about.
I'm perfectly fine with fighters who take risks though, it's a crazy feat and i respect that, but that doesn't necessarily make you the best, man.

 

[Intellidamus]

"Georges St-Pierre Says Anderson Silva Is Too Big For Super Fight"

https://camelclutchblog.com/georges-st-pierre-anderson-silva-super-fight/

But hey, he didn't have a problem when Bisping was the champion.

/thread

Bisping beat Andy. GSP finished Bisping. /thread

 

[AlwaysWonder]

Pretty sure GSP is almost the blue-print of what a perfect ambassafor for martial arts would look like.
I get what you mean with Silva probably taking more risks, but that still, MMA is about winning and GSP did so in a damn impressive manner.

A more impressive manor? Lmfao. You're comparing scared overrated wrestler to arguably the greatest martial artist to have ever walked the earth. A man who would beat people with moves you would only see in movies.

Please. GSP is nowhere near Anderson Silvas level. Not in a million years.

 

[Mcountry]

No need to be rude.

Well, some posters said that Silva was originally planned to join the welterweight divison, so who's right?

Anderson Silva, even at middleweight, had some fat on him, so it's not too far fetched that he could've made that cut.

Anderson Silva, despite supremely talented, wasn't nearly as good if he wasn't able to counter strike, that's the truth. What's also true, is that GSP had one of the highets fight-IQs and was phenomenally good, defensively and a fantastic wrestler, and as i said, guys like Sonnen and Weidman made Silva struggle, so it's perfectly reasonable to think GSP would've given Silva a bad time as well.

3 inches? it's 1.2 inches (3cm). As i said, it's literally not even the width of a finger in reality that Silva's longer than GSP.

GSP had a higher IQ. Which is why he never took the fight.

Make no mistake, this fight didn't happen because GSP didn't want it to happen. You are asking a jab artist to deal with a reach and height disadvantage against a counter striker who had matrix like reflexes and footwork. GSp would likely have to stay back at karate like distance and use kicks. Which won't land. Kicks? Against Anderson? Have you ever seen Andy get tagged by a head kick? Did he really get tagged with anything back then?

GSP's path to victory here would have to look something like Chael/Andy 1. But I don't think GSP could hold Andy down. He lacks the size and strength Chael had. As such Andy keeps it on the feet and picks GSP apart within 3 round.

Again GSP displayed his IQ by not taking this fight. And requesting that a guy who walks around at 215 to drop down to 155 is stupid. Now if GSP were Chael's size? GSP takes this fight easily. But that's arguing on a "what if"

 

[Iron Nick]

A more impressive manor? Lmfao. You're comparing scared overrated wrestler to arguably the greatest martial artist to have ever walked the earth. A man who would beat people with moves you would only see in movies.

Please. GSP is nowhere near Anderson Silvas level. Not in a million years.

The greatest martial artist to have ever walked the earth? Calm down. It would be reasonable - albeit a bit daring - to describe Silva as the most talented fighter ever, but saying he's the best fighter to have ever walked the earth is a big, big stretch.
I mean, everyone in MMA gets beat sooner or later, but getting dominated by Chael Sonnen for the majority of a fight, having big difficulties with Weidman in the first fight and losing to him, then losing to him again because not setting-up a kick properly (despite bad-luck being a big factor here as well), should tell you that Anderson was far from unbeatable.

 

[Porradossaurus]

Bisping beat Andy. GSP finished Bisping. /thread

You mean

Bisping "beat" over the hill Andy.

GSP never wanting anything to do with MW until Bisping is the champion.

 

[BoD 2.0]

GSP refused to fight Silva at 185, but happily fought at that weight for the much easier Bisping title fight

There is no defending GSP here

You’re an ignorant hater. He moved up to 185 after a 4 year retirement lol. That’s a normal transition.

Now Silva on the other hand. Dana’s plan was to bring him to the ufc as a 170 pounder to fight Hughes. That fell through, but not because silva couldn’t make the weight. Silva then came in as a MW. Convenient that 185 was the much weaker division in the UFC, with basically no wrestlers. Silva ducked the entire division lol

 

[Iron Nick]

GSP had a higher IQ. Which is why he never took the fight.

Make no mistake, this fight didn't happen because GSP didn't want it to happen. You are asking a jab artist to deal with a reach and height disadvantage against a counter striker who had matrix like reflexes and footwork. GSp would likely have to stay back at karate like distance and use kicks. Which won't land. Kicks? Against Anderson? Have you ever seen Andy get tagged by a head kick? Did he really get tagged with anything back then?

GSP's path to victory here would have to look something like Chael/Andy 1. But I don't think GSP could hold Andy down. He lacks the size and strength Chael had. As such Andy keeps it on the feet and picks GSP apart within 3 round.

Again GSP displayed his IQ by not taking this fight. And requesting that a guy who walks around at 215 to drop down to 155 is stupid. Now if GSP were Chael's size? GSP takes this fight easily. But that's arguing on a "what if"

I might have to look up a bit more on who really "ducked" who here, but depending on the weightclass, i could understand either one of them not taking the fight, despite still thinking that Anderson could make welterweight easier than GSP could make middleweight.

The height disadvantage would've maybe been a factor indeed, but not the reach, as their too close together here. I agree about Silva's great reflexes and stuff, but as you said yourself, GSP could've used a tactic similar to that of Chael/Andy 1 (or maybe Weidman/Silva 1).

As for the size/strength difference between Chael/GSP: well, Chael was bigger, you're right, but GSP is the better MMA-wrestler here, and is said to be extremely strong, even by Chael Sonnen himself, so i don't think that Andy could only rely on maybe having a strength advantage.

 

[Intellidamus]

You cant be dominant by just holding someone down. That's not dominance. Thats playing it safe. You dont get be the best by playing it safe.

Anderson Silva will go down in history books with far more impressive highlight reel and skill level. A true guru.

Another poster that doesn’t know what the words ‘dominate’ or ‘dominance’ mean. There are different levels of dominance obviously. But to dominate someone in the sport of mma would mean to have control over, have the upper hand. Hell you can dominate an entire fight and yet lose at the very end. Great example is Sonnen-Silva 1.
Yes, GSP dominated the majority of his opponents. Exceptions: his 2 losses and the Hendricks fight.

 

[Anderson Silva]

Andy via ko

 

[Mcountry]

I might have to look up a bit more on who really "ducked" who here, but depending on the weightclass, i could understand either one of them not taking the fight, despite still thinking that Anderson could make welterweight easier than GSP could make middleweight.

The height disadvantage would've maybe been a factor indeed, but not the reach, as their too close together here. I agree about Silva's great reflexes and stuff, but as you said yourself, GSP could've used a tactic similar to that of Chael/Andy 1 (or maybe Weidman/Silva 1).

As for the size/strength difference between Chael/GSP: well, Chael was bigger, you're right, but GSP is the better MMA-wrestler here, and is said to be extremely strong, even by Chael Sonnen himself, so i don't think that Andy could only rely on maybe having a strength advantage.

You are basing your entire cred off of an off cuff remark made by Chael regarding GSP's strength when they trained together 1 time.

Chael.

Who lost to Anderson twice.

Anyways. This is now circular. GSP loses this fight getting pieced up while standing. I've said my bit. I've seen them both fight in their primes. The size difference is the factor.

 

[RonniePickering]

You’re an ignorant hater. He moved up to 185 after a 4 year retirement lol. That’s a normal transition.

Now Silva on the other hand. Dana’s plan was to bring him to the ufc as a 170 pounder to fight Hughes. That fell through, but not because silva couldn’t make the weight. Silva then came in as a MW. Convenient that 185 was the much weaker division in the UFC, with basically no wrestlers. Silva ducked the entire division lol

Ignorant hater? lol I gave you facts so stop crying over it

 

[burningspear]

Georges was great but he didnt have the balls to soar..

 

[Intellidamus]

What a load of horse shit.

Andy fought a few times at lhw back then because he could easily put on and take off the weight. There was talk of him fighting Jones. Gsp admitted he couldn't don't that. And his walk around weight wasn't as drastice as Anderson's.

Andy just has a bigger frame in general to work with.

Anderson's footwork and distance was second to none back then. And that 3 inches you want to shrug off would give him a decent advantage at standup which he was also much better at. Gsp wouldn't land his jab at will. And Anderson's strength would insure that this fight would stay on the feet.

Gsp knew all this which is why never took that fight. I'm a fan and I can admit this. Gsp is the goat welterweight. His middleweight win over bisping was just a blip and bisping past his prime isn't comparable to Andy in his prime.

Funny you use reach as a deciding factor of this fight staying standing.
Well Sonnen and his 73” inch reach did just fine against Andy. GSP has a 76” reach for the record.