Is GSP/Silva becoming the Mayweather/Pacquiao of MMA?

[HeGlassedMe]

Originally Posted by achillesthegreat

Word is GSP wants Diaz and Dana will oblige. As predicted, GSP simply doesn't want to fight Silva. I don't believe out of fear, just simply he has nothing in his favour and the cons hugely outweigh the pros.

Now we need to see if Silva will man up and face Jones, who he seems to not be too interested in. He'll do it, if the UFC put the money in like he expects.

ZZZSP fears losing everything, money, sponsorship, fame, fans. He fights not to lose, instead of to win.

[sugarngold]

Sounds like it's going to be GSP/Diaz after all. Sucks to be Johnny Hendricks I guess.

[achillesthegreat]

Originally Posted by HeGlassedMe

ZZZSP fears losing everything, money, sponsorship, fame, fans. He fights not to lose, instead of to win.

This is true. He competes not to lose instead of fighting to win. However his last fight showed an edge. He really went after Condit on the front foot and went through some bad moments to win. He could have definitely made that fight easier.

GSP isn't stupid, he has no interest in any Silva strike connecting and he knows how difficult it was to control a 6 footer with an active guard let alone a significantly bigger fighter with an active guard. 25 minutes is simply too long and it would require an incredibly negative approach to win, one which may hurt his profile more than do him good.

Diaz is gonna act like an absolute ****, the people will love it, GSP can stand with him and control him enough to win and re-establish his dominance at 170. They will nicely hype up that Condit won controversially and many believe that Nick should have been the man in there with him.

[Haggis McJackass]

Originally Posted by achillesthegreat

This is true. He competes not to lose instead of fighting to win. However his last fight showed an edge. He really went after Condit on the front foot and went through some bad moments to win. He could have definitely made that fight easier.

GSP isn't stupid, he has no interest in any Silva strike connecting and he knows how difficult it was to control a 6 footer with an active guard let alone a significantly bigger fighter with an active guard. 25 minutes is simply too long and it would require an incredibly negative approach to win, one which may hurt his profile more than do him good.

Diaz is gonna act like an absolute ****, the people will love it, GSP can stand with him and control him enough to win and re-establish his dominance at 170. They will nicely hype up that Condit won controversially and many believe that Nick should have been the man in there with him.

GSP also seems to have a genuinely strong dislike for Diaz as a person. With his more aggressive than expected approach against Condit, I wonder if he'll be motivated to really beat Diaz's ass and send him home whipped. Hopefully he won't be too concerned with Diaz's one-shot power, because if that's the case we might see a GSP who actually really wants to finish the guy.

[MaliSlamusrex]

What a load of bullshit. Diaz V GSP was the fight people wanted before Diaz lost via decision to Condit. That fight could have gone either way. Now all of a sudden people are dreaming up fights and they are getting hyped. GSP V Silva is a good fight hypothetically. So is Beno against Dos Santos.

[sugarngold]

People have wanted to see GSP/Silva long before the cult of 209 came around and technically Nick Diaz lost the fight to Condit - although many including myself felt that he won.

[BobDigi5060]

St Pierre is pulling a double duck, and wants the stoner who has been on his ASS for a year.

Let's not even mention Silva v JJ since fans have wanted Silva v GSP for years....

[BobDigi5060]

Johny Hendricks would blast him, and The Spider would tap that ass.

[Vanboxingfan]

Originally Posted by sugarngold

People have wanted to see GSP/Silva long before the cult of 209 came around and technically Nick Diaz lost the fight to Condit - although many including myself felt that he won.

People may want to see this fight, but about 90% would pick Silva to win and the other 10% would just blindly pick GSP for whatever reason. Hell I don't think even GSP thinks he'd have a shot at winning, which is why he doesn't want the fight. GSP would have virtually no chance of winning unless he could get Silva on the ground. And I say this as a fan of both fighters.

[skier47]

Why would a five foot 10 inch natural welterweight want to fight a huge middleweight in Anderson Silva? They have weight categories for a reason. Besides, welterweight is the glamor division and deepest division in MMA. GSP should just continue ruling the best division in the UFC. Nobody asked the great Marvelous Marvin Hagler who ruled the prestigious middleweight division for years why he didn't put on a lot of useless weight and challenge Michael Spinks for the light-heavy title. Why get beat up by a much bigger and stronger man when you're the man at your weight class? Let Silva starve himself to make the welterweight limit if he wants the fight so bad. GSP would hand him his ass in that scenario.

[sugarngold]

Super fights between champions separated by one weight class is a long standing tradition in the fighting sports. From Stanley Ketchell dropping Jack Johnson to Michael Spinks becoming the first lightheavyweight champion to dethrone the reigning heavyweight champion. It has always been a way for fighters to reach for greatness. True, fighters can choose to stay and rule their chosen weight class but others strive for greatness beyond that. Hagler is a perfect example of a great fighter that established himself as one of the greatest of his division - while Sugar Ray Leonard moved up from the lower weight to defeat Hagler and establish himself as one of the greatest fighters of all time regardless of division.

See the difference?

[skier47]

Originally Posted by sugarngold

Super fights between champions separated by one weight class is a long standing tradition in the fighting sports. From Stanley Ketchell dropping Jack Johnson to Michael Spinks becoming the first lightheavyweight champion to dethrone the reigning heavyweight champion. It has always been a way for fighters to reach for greatness. True, fighters can choose to stay and rule their chosen weight class but others strive for greatness beyond that. Hagler is a perfect example of a great fighter that established himself as one of the greatest of his division - while Sugar Ray Leonard moved up from the lower weight to defeat Hagler and establish himself as one of the greatest fighters of all time regardless of division.

See the difference?

Not a fair comparison. Spinks was less than an inch shorter than Holmes and Leonard was actually a little taller than Hagler. The size differential between GSP and Anderson is huge. Silva is a shade under 6 foot 3 inches and has abnormally long limbs even for such a tall dude. GSP is barely 5 foot 10 inches with an average reach. The guy is a natural welterweight and would be foolish to fight such a bigger man as Silva. I don't consider Leonard any greater than Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Both fighters were awesome fighting men and Ray openly admitted he waited for Hagler to get old before issuing his challenge.. People will remember GSP the same way they remember Hagler; as a great long-term champion of the deepest division in MMA talentwise. Even Chael Sonnen admits GSP has fought far tougher opponents than Silva. For the record Ketchel sucker punched Johnson in their encounter. It was set up as a sparring session to entertain the fans. Ketchel was a thug and took advantage of the great Jack Johnson and threw a punch with full power knocking him down. Jack got up disgusted at the punk and knocked his ass out. That's what happens when you have a huge size differential; the little guy gets whipped.