GSP on long-discussed Anderson Silva super fight: “It is possible”

For many years, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva stood out as the two best fighters in MMA. Given that they were separated by just 15 pounds, there was always a widespread desire to see them fight. Unfortunately, this super fight never materialized.

On a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered Podcast, St-Pierre recounted the UFC’s previous attempts to book a fight between him and Silva, and explained why the fight never occurred.

“We talked about Anderson Silva many times with [former UFC CEO] Lorenzo [Fertitta] and [UFC President] Dana [White],” St-Pierre said on the show (via MMAJunkie.com). “What I wanted to do at the time – there was a big lineup of contenders in my division and what I wanted to do, if I would have fought him at the time because I would have had to defend my title too, I would have done it at a catchweight of 177 [pounds] with [World Anti-Doping Agency testing]. Because USADA was not in place back then, and I wanted to do the WADA testing for performance-enhancing drugs.

“I think the UFC didn’t really like the idea at the time,” he continued. “But then after I had to fight other guys, after I blew out my ACL then a lot of guys were waiting for me to come back. I didn’t have a time to stop or the opportunity to [fight Silva].”

While St-Pierre admitted this fight with Silva was discussed on several occasions, however, he said it was only “formally” offered to him once  – right around the time he began his temporary retirement from MMA.

“The truth is this: The only time I’ve been offered to fight Anderson Silva, formally – like formally – like a real offer, was after my fight with Johny Hendricks, when I retired. It’s not [that I turned it down] because it was Anderson Silva. I would not have fought nobody. You could have put a midget of 3-foot tall, [and] I would not have even fought him. I wouldn’t want to fight. I was tired. I wanted to take time off.”

Today, however, when St-Pierre is poised for a comeback fight against Michael Bisping, in the very division where Silva continues to compete, the fight suddenly seems very possible. St-Pierre confirmed the fight as a possibility on the UFC Unfiltered Podcast.

“It is possible,” he said. 

Would you be interested in a Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva fight, or do you think the time for this fight has passed? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/7/2017.