A LONG ROAD LEADS TO GSP VS A. SILVA

- A LONG ROAD LEADS TO GSP VS. ANDERSON SILVA
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com

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A lot of people have asked about the possible showdown between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, so much so that UFC president Dana White has said in the past that he may just have to make it happen.

Just not for a while.

Following Saturday night's UFC 117 in Oakland, White talked about the potential mega match-up between the fighters rated virtually everywhere as the No. 1 and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.

White believes that to make the fight between GSP and Silva happen it has to be the right timing, and it has to make sense. Right now neither of those criteria have been met.

"I think eventually it could happen, but there's still a long road," White said. "Georges St-Pierre has to beat (Josh) Koscheck, then beat (Jake) Shields, and a couple of these other (guys). He's still got a ways to go to clean out his division."

Jon Fitch may have earned a shot at St-Pierre on Saturday night when he defeated Thiago Alves, and as White mentioned, the newly signed Jake Shields makes his debut in October against Martin Kampmann. He has long desired a shot at St-Pierre.

Silva could have some work of his own ahead with Vitor Belfort just itching to get in the cage with him, plus a powder keg of a rematch brewing with Chael Sonnen, who was arguably less than two minutes away from defeating the champion before having it all come crashing down around him.

The other major factor that White doesn’t like about the match-up is the size difference between St-Pierre, who fights at welterweight, and Silva, who has ascended as high as the light heavyweight division.

"I'm not crazy about the fight because Georges St-Pierre is a real 170-pounder. Anderson Silva is a freak who, he makes 85, but this guy could compete and I think do well at 205, so it's just a tough fight for me," White admitted.

Of course the UFC has always been in the business of putting the biggest fights together, and a bout between St-Pierre and Silva has the potential to be the biggest in the sport's history.

"If they keep knocking guys off, and enough people want to see it, then maybe we'll do it," White commented about the potential match-up.

For now though it looks like St-Pierre has enough work ahead of him at 170 pounds, and Silva at 185, that they won't be crossing paths anytime soon.

- I do think the Sonnes vs Silva rematch needs to happen should Silva beat Belfort but other than that I really dont see anyone else being in Silva's way at the moment. As for GSP if he beats Kos again, and he should, and then the winner of Kampmann vs Shields then I really dont see a need for GSP to stay at WW b/c its just going to be a string of rematches since the #1 contenders pretty much stay the same.