Silva to WW?

[Via Armbar]

From Yahoo Sports:

But how does UFC welterweight champion Anderson Silva grab you? Or UFC light heavyweight champion Anderson Silva? Or, better yet, UFC heavyweight champion Anderson Silva?

Well, it’s far from a guarantee that he’ll ever fight for even one of those other belts, but it’s not because the thought hasn’t crossed the soon-to-be 35-year-old’s mind. He’s not the type to call out an opponent and challenge a champion in another division, but he said after a news conference Wednesday that he is seriously considering a drop to 170 pounds for two fights.

One he’d take to see if he could successfully make the welterweight limit, and a second would potentially be for a Superfight with champion Georges St. Pierre.

St. Pierre has put a stranglehold on the welterweight division similar to the one that Silva has on the middleweights. So, naturally, talk of a St. Pierre-Silva fight has arisen. UFC president Dana White has put a damper on the talk recently, however, because he’s begun to believe that Silva is too big for St. Pierre.

If Silva were to drop to 170 to meet St. Pierre, it would create perhaps the biggest fight in UFC history, matching the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Silva said it’s possible, though he was careful not to demand a title bout or call out St. Pierre.

“I’d like to test myself and I always love to take on new challenges,” Silva said of his thoughts about a drop to 170 pounds from the middleweight limit of 185. “It’s not that I want to go fight Georges St. Pierre for his title. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s the reigning champion, the absolute champion, in that weight category. But I just want to test myself and see how I’d do at that weight.”

Silva, who recently signed a new eight-fight contract with the UFC, said he hasn’t made 170 pounds in about five years. He’s not looking to campaign in the division, however, and two fights at the weight wouldn’t change that, even if he were successful.

Silva has the otherworldly kind of talent, though, to make an even bigger splash. He’s already knocked out Forrest Griffin, a former light heavyweight champion and if close friend and training partner Lyoto Machida weren’t holding the UFC’s 205-pound belt, he might be eyeing a run at it too.

He also acknowledged an interest in fighting at heavyweight. He’s got the kind of frame to add on the weight and could compete around 225 pounds.

Very interesting news. It's common knowledge that Silva walks around at about 225 lbs on any given day. So it's not an insane idea, him fighting at heavyweight. In fact, a couple months ago there was talk of having him fight Frank Mir until Dana Whote shot down the idea. Cutting all the way down to welterwieght though is a massive cut. I don't think there is any other fight in the UFC who cuts nearly that much. I know Anthony Johnson is a huge welterwieght as is Thiago Alves, but neither of them cut that much. Not to mention niether have the large frame that Anderson has.

Do you think Silva could potentially be succesful at welterwieght? If he is, who would you most like to see him fight?

For me the obvious first pick is GSP. Potentially the biggest fight of all time in mma. There's so many variables here that factor in it's hard to even start guessing the outcome. You have easily the best wrestler in mma against the best striker in the game. My first instinct would be that GSP would take him down and nuetralize him on the ground. With Silva though, you have giant limbs and great flexibilty in your skillset. I have no questions that GSP would be able to take him down, but whether or not he could keep him there while throwing in some offense is questionable. If there is anyone that could do it, it would be GSP. If he were stupid enough to stand and bang though...well we've seen what happens when fighters go that route with Silva. If I had to choose, I would pick GSP by decision. I think he would avoid the standup and keep Silva down at all costs. As for a warm up fight for Silva, I think a guy like Koscheck or maybe even Daley would be very interesting matchups for him.

 

[Slyfox696]

Wow, a fight like this would be absolutely epic. But, I don't see it happening. The cut to 170, for a guy who walks around in excess of 200 pounds would be crazy, and I don't see GSP wanting to move up to 185, despite the fact he'd still have to cut for the fight.

But, imagine the possibilities. This fight would be, without a doubt, one of the biggest fights in UFC history, if not the biggest. If there's any way to make it happen, I want to see it.

 

[jmt225]

Well, Anderson Silva has made the cut to 170 before, but that was quite a while ago. I think he's put on too much muscle since that time to be able to make it again.

Anyway, if Shogun loses (since Anderson refuses to fight Machida), and Anderson Silva and GSP keep defeating everyone in their weight classes... then GSP's going to have to move up for the super fight at 185. I would give GSP nine good months to prepare himself for it, so he can put on all the weight he wants. I really believe he would be up for that, especially if there aren't any other logical options. Moreover, in GSP's last fight he looked bigger than ever, so you never know... it could already be lingering in the back of his mind to get himself prepared for a fight at 185 pounds.

As far as Anderson at Heavyweight... not something I personally want to see. At least, not right now or any time soon. There's still a bunch of shit left for Anderson to do at 185 and 205. Whether it's against a 185 pound GSP, or Chael Sonnen, or Shogun at 205, or the winner of Evans/Rampage, etc... there are plenty of HUGE fights left for Anderson Silva within the Middle and Light Heavyweight classes. There's absolutely no need for him to jump the gun and move up to Heavyweight.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Well, after all those rumors about him retiring after his deal with the UFC expired (which would have been soon), and him wanting to go box Roy Jones Jr., I'm really glad he put that off and we're going to be treated to at least eight more Anderson Silva fights. I'm not a fan of the guy, I think he's arrogant and pompous as all hell, but he's still one of the best, if not THE best pound for pound fighter in all of Mixed Martial Arts, and I truly think he's the Muhammad Ali of MMA.

He's clearly bored in the middleweight division, and if he beats Maia, Belfort, and/or Sonnen, then he's cleaned out the division. I still think that if Sonnen wrestles him for 5 rounds, he'll beat Silva, but that's a whole other thread. Fact is he's clearly bored and has some other goals he wants to achieve before retiring. I honestly don't think he wants to seriously compete at 205, with Machida and Lil Nog being two top contenders in the division. If Machida loses to Shogun, he wouldn't be happy with Anderson leapfrogging him to become a contender in that division. And if Machida beats Shogun, sure, there are the big fights at light heavyweight for him, but in the end, they'd be for nothing, as he probably wouldn't want to contend for a title with Machida at the top of the division.

I'd love to see him at Welterweight. Not only would we get the GSP fight, but we could very well get a BJ Penn fight as well. I just think that Silva is too big to be a Welterweight. He's pretty big for a Middleweight to begin with. I would assume he'd get one fight before getting GSP, and I think Jon Fitch would be a real good litmus test for him. Fitch is a hell of a wrestler and very well versed in takedowns like GSP is. He's also the consensus #2 Welterweight in the world. If Silva could beat Fitch convincingly, then a fight with GSP would just be THAT more epic.

I'm not sure if I'd want to see him fight at Heavyweight, just because Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin are so much bigger than him. They also pack so much power and are primarily wrestlers.

That being said, I would laugh so hard if Silva tooled Frank Mir.

 

[Via Armbar]

Sly posted in mma, that's awesome.

I agree with the tought that a move to heavywieght would be a little too much for Silva. If he did fight somebody in that class it would have to be a smaller guy and not a wrestler. Lesnar would take him down far too easily, as would Carwin or Cain. If he fought once at HW I would like to see it against Dos Santos. Cigano isn't known for his takedowns or his ground game so more than likely he'd stand with Silva. Fireworks would happen for sure.

Going down seems to be the more logical move, but like it's been point out he has a good deal of muscle and that's not something he would want to lose. It's been a decade since he fought at 170 and it's a little too unpredictable. If anything a catchweight of 180 would be good for both Silva and his opponent. Especially since GSP has said recently that he has put on about 15 lbs of muscle. Whether it happens or not, it's certainly a fight that most would welcome. I'd sacrifice putting GSP's title one sided title defenses on hold to see a dream fight.