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What's the story?
Former welterweight champion and legend of the sport, Georges St-Pierre, recently admitted that the long spoken about the fight with 'The Spider' Anderson Silva, does not interest him anymore. The pair were individually approached on numerous occasions to square off against each other, but the fight never managed to make it to Octagon-side for a variety of reasons.
In case you didn't know...
Georges St-Pierre is known the world round for his champion streak in the welterweight division of the UFC. By beating some of the best in the business like Michael Bisping, B.J. Penn, and Matt Hughes, St-Pierre has managed to cement his legacy as a veteran of the sport of mixed martial arts. In 2013, St-Pierre decided to hang his MMA gloves temporarily, only to return four years later in a championship title fight against Michael Bisping.
Anderson Silva has been fighting professionally for over 20 years now. While boasting an unprecedented 16-fight win streak in the UFC, Silva was solely responsible for changing the very face of the game with his new age method of striking.
He is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, with experience in other disciplines of martial arts such as Muay Thai and Taekwondo. He last competed in the Octagon against Derek Brunson, who he beat via a controversial unanimous decision.
The heart of the matter
Anderson Silva, on many occasions, has accused St-Pierre of ducking his challenge and only reserving himself for easy fights throughout the course of his career. He said, “that’s an interesting fight, but Georges has never come to accept the challenge. Georges just runs, runs, runs, It’s crazy. I do not think Georges wants the fight — but that’s OK. I respect Georges. He is a great fighter. Maybe he just has a different view — to take easy fights. That’s not me. I like to take the big challenges in my life.”
In a recent interview on The Luke Thomas Show, St-Pierre was seen expressing his disinterest in fighting 'The Spider'. He went on to say that the fight was offered to him in the past as well, but somehow failed to appeal to him.
“The fight with Anderson Silva, there’s been a lot of talk. It’s been offered to me twice, earlier in my career, during my welterweight run. I don’t exactly remember when. I was doing my welterweight run and I had a talk with Dana and Lorenzo and the condition if I would make that fight was a catchweight, because after my goal was to go back down to my initial weight class at 170. The other time that happened, after I finished, I took a break with Johny Hendricks and Dana texted me asking if I want to fight Anderson Silva but I didn’t want to fight anybody. I said no. I took four years off. Now things have changed. Silva has lost. Now it is not as interesting. There’s a lot more to lose than gain,” he said.
What's next?
Although there has been significant talk about Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre locking horns in the Octagon, it is safe to say that this contest may never take place in the UFC. However, it will be interesting to see if the duo agrees to fight each other under a different promotional banner, in the near future.
Who do you think would win if the two managed to step into the cage together? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!
