Georges St-Pierre: Anderson Silva fight will happen on my terms, not his

[VCURamFan]

From MMAFighting.com:

The Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva super fight isn't a done deal just yet, and if GSP gets his way, it may not happen for a while.

In his first major interview since his UFC 154 win over Carlos Condit last weekend, St-Pierre told Radio-Canada's "Tout Le Monde en Parle" ("Everyone is Talking") on Sunday night that the time just isn't right for him fight Silva.

Below are his translated comments about the fight:

"This fight is the cherry on the sundae," he said. "He wants to fight me so he can then retire. I would like to fight him too, but after I fight him and win the fight, what happens next? These days, yeah, there's a lot of money to be made, but I don't fight for the money. My motivation is to be the best. Like we said, to be the Wayne Gretzky of my sport. So if I fight him, what happens next? It will be over. So yes, I want the fight, but I want to take it when I decide the time is right, not when he wants the fight to happen.

"On top of that, he weighs 234 pounds; I weigh 188. So there's a big weight difference. I've fought guys who were bigger -- I'm not scared of him -- it's just that I will take this fight when it makes sense for me. I just came back from an injury, there's money to be made, there are fights in my weight class, other challenges out there, and if I fight him, I will have to gain weight, while he will have to lose weight, and then afterwards, I won't be able to come back to my weight class.

"First and foremost, I have things to do at 170 pounds. When I am ready and when I want the fight, that's when it will happen."


Other notes from the show:

• GSP wore sunglasses throughout the entire interview because he said he had yet to fully heal from the Condit fight.
• GSP said he had Christmas dinner last year at Sylvester Stallone's house after his doctor wouldn't clear him to fly home from Los Angeles following knee surgery.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger called to congratulate him after last weekend's win.
• He thinks he could fight until he's 45 years old, but he guarantees he will be retired by then.
• The host said GSP makes approximately $15 million a year in addition to his UFC fight purses. GSP did not disagree.
• He said he's not quite the Gretzky of MMA but maybe the Joe Sakic.

The full French interview can be viewed below.

http://youtu.be/bYP07qDGV68
http://youtu.be/oc3MaUcFLjY

[kevint13]

On top of that, he weighs 234 pounds; I weigh 188. So there's a big weight difference.

234? Really? Did Georges just pick 3 consecutive numbers?

I think Anderson probably weighs around 215-220, but 234 would mean that he cuts just under 50 lbs. And being sponsored by Burger King can't possibly help that weight cut

[wavetar]

I think Georges should move up to 185 & fight him now. I watched a Best of Pride fight between Anderson and Carlos Newton at 185 last week. Carlos had no problem getting Anderson down, and holding him down for much of the first 10 minute round. Georges is bigger than Carlos, as far as height & reach, and obviously his specialty is grinding out the decision in that fashion. If he loses, oh well, it was to the GOAT at 185.

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by wavetar

I think Georges should move up to 185 & fight him now. I watched a Best of Pride fight between Anderson and Carlos Newton at 185 last week. Carlos had no problem getting Anderson down, and holding him down for much of the first 10 minute round. Georges is bigger than Carlos, as far as height & reach, and obviously his specialty is grinding out the decision in that fashion. If he loses, oh well, it was to the GOAT at 185.

I assumed Georges normal weight was closer to 185 so I always thought it more likely he would be the one to move up and fight Anderson for the MW title...never understood people talking about "catchweight"...what's the point in that for either of them?

Georges is fudging...again! There's probably a greater chance of one of us winning tonight's powerball than us seeing this fight happen. He clearly doesn't want to fight Anderson. I just wish he would stop hemming and hawing about it! Just say the words, "I DO NOT want to fight Anderson Silva!" It's just cruel to let DW keep thinking and dreaming about all that money!

Since this ain't happening, I'd like to see GSP/Hendricks next!

[County Mike]

A catchweight fight would make it possible for both guys to fight without the risk of losing their title. That's why it makes sense to me. It's a super fight that will sell a ton of tickets but asking either fighter to put his title on the line is likely to make them want to avoid it.

[kevint13]

Originally Posted by wavetar
I think Georges should move up to 185 & fight him now. I watched a Best of Pride fight between Anderson and Carlos Newton at 185 last week. Carlos had no problem getting Anderson down, and holding him down for much of the first 10 minute round. Georges is bigger than Carlos, as far as height & reach, and obviously his specialty is grinding out the decision in that fashion. If he loses, oh well, it was to the GOAT at 185.

That's the problem...there is too much risk in losing and that isn't Georges' game. His 'legacy' based on wins and losses is more important than the challenge.

Originally Posted by Bonnie

Georges is fudging...again! There's probably a greater chance of one of us winning tonight's powerball than us seeing this fight happen. He clearly doesn't want to fight Anderson. I just wish he would stop hemming and hawing about it! Just say the words, "I DO NOT want to fight Anderson Silva!" It's just cruel to let DW keep thinking and dreaming about all that money!

I totally agree, Georges wants nothing to do with fighting Anderson. Others from his camp have said that they want it as close to 170 as possible if they were to fight him. Anderson's camp sounds willing to go to 176 and they may already be working on this as they claim his weight is currently under 210.

http://www.bjpenn.com/anderson-silva...ight-ufc-news/

“It would be a crime for Anderson to try and fight at 77kg. He could maybe make the weight but the physical loss that he would suffer would be too much.”

“We have to respect St. Pierre, who besides being a great fighter is a monster physically. The Canadian would get a considerable conditioning advantage if they fought at welterweight division limits.”

“For me this fight should happen at 80kg (176 lbs), since that would already be a sacrifice for Anderson. It would be his first shot at this weight and we would have to implement a very specific work for him to be able to perform at 100% of his capacity.”

“Currently Anderson has been weighing 92-94kg (203-207) because he’s been thinking about this dropping weight to take GSP on. Anderson losing 3gk and St-Pierre going up 3kg would be more fair for both of them and for the public, who would watch a great fight.”

- Anderson Silva’s personal physician tells Fighters Only Magazine that his athlete should not take a fight at 170 pounds.

[wavetar]

I like the idea of catch weight as it puts them on as equal footing as possible as far as having Anderson dropping an extra 9-10 pounds and only giving Georges 6-7 extra. I can't say I blame Georges for trying to get things as much in his favor as possible, if Anderson is willing to do it. But I also think that doing it at 185 would do nothing to tarnish his career if he lost to Anderson, while on the flip side if he happens to win it would cement his legacy as the 170 GOAT like nothing else could...especially given his finishing percentage as champ.

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by wavetar

I like the idea of catch weight as it puts them on as equal footing as possible as far as having Anderson dropping an extra 9-10 pounds and only giving Georges 6-7 extra. I can't say I blame Georges for trying to get things as much in his favor as possible, if Anderson is willing to do it. But I also think that doing it at 185 would do nothing to tarnish his career if he lost to Anderson, while on the flip side if he happens to win it would cement his legacy as the 170 GOAT like nothing else could...especially given his finishing percentage as champ.

I'm not sure why, but I never thought of them fighting at catch weight, I always thought if they did fight, Georges would go to 185. Like you say, if he loses, he's still the WW champ; although, if he did win, I guess that would present a can of worms he might not want to have to deal with.

I really think Georges is happy where he's at, and if it were up to him, all this talk of fighting Anderson would go "poof!"

[wavetar]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

I really think Georges is happy where he's at, and if it were up to him, all this talk of fighting Anderson would go "poof!"

I think you're right.

Originally Posted by Bonnie

Like you say, if he loses, he's still the WW champ; although, if he did win, I guess that would present a can of worms he might not want to have to deal with.

Well, there's nothing to say he'd have to defend it...let's face it, he can't defend both, and would likely want to head 'back home' to 170. It wouldn't be a bad thing though...Anderson retires after the loss, GSP gives up the belt, Dana holds a multi-event tournament to crown a new deserving champ and makes lots of $$$$.

Hey, I can dream, right?

[rearnakedchoke]

Originally Posted by wavetar

I like the idea of catch weight as it puts them on as equal footing as possible as far as having Anderson dropping an extra 9-10 pounds and only giving Georges 6-7 extra. I can't say I blame Georges for trying to get things as much in his favor as possible, if Anderson is willing to do it. But I also think that doing it at 185 would do nothing to tarnish his career if he lost to Anderson, while on the flip side if he happens to win it would cement his legacy as the 170 GOAT like nothing else could...especially given his finishing percentage as champ.

gsp beats anderson, imo, he is the goat ....

1. GSP
2. Anderson
3. Fedor