A year ago, no one could stop talking about the fight potential between Anderson "The Spider" Silva and George "Rush" St. Pierre (GSP). Silva hasn't been beaten while fighting in the UFC octagon and GSP just won his seventh straight title defense against Carlos Condit. GSP has two losses in his storied UFC career to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, both legends in their own right and former champions. GSP took those losses and elevated himself to another level, pushing himself into another stratosphere with his wrestling and strength & conditioning training. Now he's even brought in Freddie Roach to fine tune his boxing, to shore up a perceived weakness of himself. For a long time now, these two have decimated contenders in their weight classes. BJ Penn saw similar success at lightweight, no one thought anyone could knock him off his pedestal with his phenomenal prowess in BJJ and crisp boxing. He tried moving up to fight GSP and got taken out by the larger opponent, which is what everyone expects to happen to GSP against Silva.
Silva is a big middleweight, in fact, he walks around upwards of 205, easily, which is why he's accepted fights at light heavyweight (205 lbs). His scalps are numerous and there are many notables as well, early on he defeated Sakurai, Jeremy Horn and Tony Fryklund; Sakurai was known as the "Gracie-killer", a highly esteemed moniker, Jeremy Horn is an old pro who's learned under Pat Miletich, Fryklund has as well. He also suffered four losses, one was a disqualification (DQ) that truly rankled him well into his UFC career, Silva managed to avenge his loss with a battering of Yushin Okami later on, however. Once in the UFC, it was a highlight reel of wins, Chris Leben welcomed him into the UFC by providing him a moving punching bag to wail on. Leben was known for being really tough, having an iron chin and had knockout power in his right hand. That didn't matter once Silva put him in his thai plum, relentless shooting knee kicks at his head until Leben's head was a swollen, bulbous mess. He took Rich Franklin out with a similar approach, savaging Franklin's ribs and abdomen with accurate knees until Franklin could take no more and left his head undefended. After taking the belt and beating Franklin even more decisively in the rematch, Silva went on to beat Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, James Irvin, Patrick Cote, Forrest Griffin and Demian Maia. Oh, and let's not forget, Chael Sonnen. Twice. Of those mentioned, the only ones he didn't finish were Cote and Maia; Cote hurt his knee and couldn't complete the third round and Maia, well, that fight was a travesty. Revitalized after the Sonnen victories and his thorough dissection of Stephan Bonnar, Silva seems poised to add to his own mystique and take on GSP.
Where Silva can be one of the most dynamic strikers and finishers in not only UFC history but of all time, this guy would put a grin on Bruce Lee's face, GSP is a dominant figure in his bouts, imposing his will and game plan on opponents, employing his incredible wrestling to dictate the fight. The crazy part, he wasn't a wrestler growing up, he did karate. Wrestling was something that he added to his regimen after fights with Hughes in which he was regularly taken down by the former champ, subsequently he began training with the Canadian Olympic Wrestling team. Imagine, as a professional he's picked it up and now there aren't many that can beat him in that respect, even former NCAA champs like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. That speaks volumes about his dedication and intelligence, to be able to pick something up and run with it. You can see his stand-up improve as well, you saw it in the Koscheck fight where he left him with orbital fracture from just his jab! (Albeit a Lot of jabs.) The thing with GSP, though, is he hasn't finished a fight in a long while, it almost seems as if he's content with getting the decision, content with implementing a low-risk strategy. His last five fights have all been decided by the judges, triumphs, though ones marred in mediocrity if compared to a record such as Silva's.
With dominance in one's weight class, complacency can make an appearance. Comfort can be a killer lying in wait, you saw it in Silva's fight against Leites and Maia. When Silva's aggressive, when he figures out his opponent, reads his timing and goes in for the kill, he can be frightening in his focus. The bout with Sonnen awoke the Spider in him, the irony abounding, taking a pounding for four and a half rounds before sneaking in the triangle choke. GSP breezed to a victory over Koscheck, maintaining his distance, using the jab effectively and utilizing his take-down defense against a brutalized Josh. Condit, wanton with his usage of kicks, used a jumping roundhouse to lump up GSP's head halfway through the third round just last week, injuring Rush badly, the worst we've seen him since becoming a champ this second time around. The fight seemed to ignite something in GSP in the lead up to it, though the ardor had turned to embers by the time the post-fight news conference rolled around. It's been rumored that GSP came close to walking away from the octagon, perhaps this latest pummeling left him with second doubts about the match up Silva. Condit was a tough test but Silva is on another level and has 30 pounds on him at any given point, just about.
Most mma pundits seem to agree that a loss for GSP wouldn't tarnish his legacy, while a loss for the Spider, who is the bigger, stronger man, would take him down a notch. I say do it, weight classes are great but I remember a time when dudes would take on all comers. Hell, BJ Penn took on Lyoto Machida in Pride, that's a welterweight (170 lbs) at best versus a light heavyweight (upwards of 205, closer to 225, roughly, when not making weight), I think GSP will be fine, if he can use his speed, his agility and wrestle to the ground, hurting him while not giving away potential submissions. If he can't, the Spider might just pick him apart from range. Whatever the outcome, it will be a great fight and a fine aperitif for Anderson Silva vs Jon "Bones" Jones.
