Talk of a superfight between UFC welterweight titleholder Georges St-Pierre and middleweight champion Anderson Silva has swirled for years, but according to UFC president Dana White, St-Pierre doesn’t want the fight.
“Georges St-Pierre would not even think about this fight because Anderson Silva isn’t going to win (against Chris Weidman), according to Georges St-Pierre,” said White following the UFC 162 pre-fight press conference on Thursday. But there’s more to the story.
When asked if he sensed St-Pierre doesn’t want the fight, White said, “There’s no doubt about it. That’s a fact.”
“St-Pierre had his chance to pronounce himself about fighting me and he didn’t do it,” said Silva on a recent media conference call.
White doesn’t hold it against St-Pierre for not wanting to go up a weight class to challenge Silva.
“At the end of the day he weighs 170 pounds. He’s a 170-pounder. If he weighed 185 pounds and felt that way I’d be real pissed,” said White. “I’m the man here at 170. If I thought I was the man at 185 I’d be at 185. I get it, but it’s a fight that a lot of fans want to see. It’s a big fight. It’s a legacy fight. It’s a fight for the pound-for-pound best in the world.”
While White gets it, he still doesn’t completely understand St-Pierre’s unwillingness to fight Silva.
“What’s crazy to me is GSP opted to take a very dangerous fight at 170 without trying to take a dangerous fight at 185,” he said.
St-Pierre instead faces Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov. 16.
Be sure to Like MMAWeekly.com on Facebook and Follow @MMAWeeklycom on Twitter.