GSP thinking of moving up a weight class for Silva?

[sh00n]

Hey guys, just read an article that GSP had on the Montreal Canadiens website where he actually said he would consider moving up a weight class to fight Anderson Silva. Said he would like it to happen in Montreal, too. (OMG) Interesting read, enjoy!

http://canadiens.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=29609

Impressive. All right, not to look past BJ, but let’s look past BJ. Who at welterweight, at this point, do you figure is your biggest challenger – Thiago Alves?
GSP: In the UFC Thiago Alves is probably the number one challenger at welterweight, for sure. Jake Shields is extremely dangerous. And who knows, at some point I may move up a weight class to take on [UFC middleweight champion] Anderson Silva.

After Penn-St.Pierre II, logically the next big superfight would indeed see you take on Anderson Silva. Do you foresee fighting at welterweight after your bout against BJ, or would you want to move up a weight class right away to face Anderson?
GSP: It depends on a variety of scenarios, but we’ll have to see what happens for both Anderson and I. I won’t say that fight might not happen in the near future, and I won’t say that it doesn’t have a chance of happening in Montreal. We’ll see, and I’ll leave it at that. (laughs)

[Cammo101]

If GSP beats Penn, then UFC 100's main event will be GSP vs. Anderson Silva. Bank on it.

[CPT]

This isn't really news, as he's just "thinking about it" and I'm pretty sure he's said this a few times before, but it's a good place to discuss the possibility.

I agree with Cammo that if he gets by Penn, UFC 100 will be GSP vs. Anderson Silva. It's the only thing special enough that they can do without completely f--ing up the rest of their schedule. It would determine the top P4P fighter in the world, which is bigger than a couple title fights, or at least that's what they'll be saying.

For the record, I don't think it would be a great move for GSP, although if he really feels he's exhausted the WW division (I don't think he has), then moving up might be reasonable. I think when Silva loses, it will be because he moves up to 205 against a fighter that physically gives him more than he can handle (think Rampage, or even Forrest), not because a WW steps up in weight to fight him.

[cowboyronnie]

I agree, if GSP wins, that will be the headliner.

It would be such a worthy fight for UFC100, the company would make it happen no matter what. That could anchor any middlecard. What an awesome match.

[RockTHECasbah]

yep, perfect for UFC 100, you wouldn't need 4 superfights with that fight

hopefully its enough time for GSP

[Chach]

How pissed is Alves going to be if that happens? If GSP wins then Florian and Alves would both be in good positions to fight for the respective titles. If Penn wins then Alves gets first shot probably but if GSP wins and moves up to fight Silva, that means Alves won't get to fight for the title until September/October at the earliest. Dude needs to make a living so he's going to have to fight someone else in the meantime. He better train like hell for that fight because it would suck balls for him to lose and lose his titleshot because of weight class crossing. I don't mind guys moving up and down so long as it doesn't really mess up the title matches. The champs tend to fight like three times a year so its bulldink to see 8 months without a title match. If GSP is going to fight 4 or 5 times in 2009 then I don't mind. He would, in theory, be in line for four fights in 2009 if he fights in September and then the NYE show. mahalo
~Chach~

[cowboyronnie]

Whatever. I don't think Alves deserves it to a degree where it would be criminal to put him off for another 5 months. He's on a huge streak, but nothing close to what Fitch had and with lesser opponents. He's also lost twice in the past 4 years, failed a drug test, failed weigh-ins (badly) and has remained very one-dimensional.

IDK, my impression is just that he's not championship level. I think he should fight Diego or that he should fight Koscheck. It's a toss-up between those three as to who is the best right now (taking into consideration all improvements).

[CPT]

Whatever. I don't think Alves deserves it to a degree where it would be criminal to put him off for another 5 months. He's on a huge streak, but nothing close to what Fitch had and with lesser opponents. He's also lost twice in the past 4 years, failed a drug test, failed weigh-ins (badly) and has remained very one-dimensional.

IDK, my impression is just that he's not championship level. I think he should fight Diego or that he should fight Koscheck. It's a toss-up between those three as to who is the best right now (taking into consideration all improvements).

Diego is officially at 155 and he already beat Koscheck. I think his streak is as good or better than Fitch's was, definitely in terms of quality of opponents. Fitch has a lengthy streak going, but the only top 10 guy he beat was Sanchez in a SD. Alves has beaten Karo, Hughes, and Koscheck on his streak, and more decisively (TKO, TKO, UD). Of course, Alves himself was part of Fitch's streak, so that complicates things. Maybe he should have to avenge his loss to Fitch to really prove he's the #2 WW in the world, but then you're in a tough spot if he loses, as we've already seen GSP beat the piss out of Fitch for 5 rounds, and it will be pretty clear that Alves isn't better than Fitch.

He's getting screwed, but not enough to make me feel bad about wanting to see GSP fight Anderson Silva.

I think he should take a fight that he can probably win, just to keep busy and get a payday. I understand he was given the option to do that or to wait for the title fight and he decided to wait, but if it's going to be another 8 months, he might reconsider. Fitch's last fight before GSP was against Chris Wilson, while I think it had already been established that he was getting a title shot with the win over Diego. Alves' win over Koscheck pretty much locked in his title shot, so he can fight a guy like that, or if he's feeling confident, he could fight Swick or Davis (I'd love to see those fights). Realistically, he should probably just fight a guy like Fioravanti, Goulet, Chonan, McCrory, or even Chris Wilson himself.

[Cammo101]

UFC 100

Anderson Silva vs. GSP
Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin

*dreamy sigh*

[Chach]

Chris Wilson will be the WW #1 contender gatekeeper, I love it.

I kind of have a stiffy thinking about that cammo. Except that I'm pretty sure that Franklin is locked in at 205 from this point forward. If he beat Franklin, he would drop back to 185 for the Bisping fight but now that he lost, I see no reason for him to drop. And Belfort has looked very good at 185. I just finished watching his first UFC event where he weighed in at 205 and there was no weight cut at all so I'm assuming his natural fighting fight is around 190ish so MW is his ideal weightclass. I don't see him moving up in weight or Frankling moving down. What about Marquart versus Belfort? I think it's going to look like Bisping/Henderson winner gets the MW title shot but IF GSP were to win the MW belt, I could see the MW title belt being delayed so that GSP could beat Alves.

Alves might look one dimensional but his one dimension was pretty awesome and he has developed some good takedown defense. I was pretty pissed about the Hughes fight but he impressed me that much with the Kos fight. I can't think of any other WW that should get the next shot against GSP. I love Marcus Davis but he's a few wins away. Hazlett just got injured and he's in the same boat (Oh. Dear. God. Insta-Brainstorm. Who would like to see those two match-up at UFC 100? BJJ mastermind versus boxing with a ton of subs to his credit. Only issue is I know Davis has worked with Gurgel in the past so I don't know if there would be a conflict of camps.). Alves will probably lose and might not even get a title shot because he fails to make weight for the fight but I can't see anyone else more deserving. mahalo
~Chach~

[cowboyronnie]

Alves can add some Prozac to his andro stack, and we can have GSP vs Silva.