Last week, Georges St-Pierre came under heavy fire from keyboard warriors after he suggested a move up to middleweight might not be in the cards. While the UFC welterweight king spotlighted the need to properly pack on additional pounds as his primary deterrent, fanboys across the globe perceived his backpedalling as a sign of fear.
“I’m not afraid of nobody in the world,” St-Pierre told Yahoo! Sports of challenging Anderson Silva for his belt. “I’m a martial artist. If it happens [with] the right timing and everything, I fight whoever they want. I can fight everyone in the world. I don’t mind.”
“That’s not what I said. It’s a complete re-orientation of my career. People are saying crazy stuff, ‘Oh, he just has to gain 30 pounds and take the fight and fight him in three months.’ I can’t get 30 pounds in three months. It would take a lot more than that. If I want to go up in weight class.”
IF you move up to middleweight? GSP owns a dominant 21-2 record and has convincingly defended his throne five consecutive times. Furthermore, it could be argued he already lapped the welterweight field after hanging a second unanimous decision victory on Josh Koscheck.
“I’ve had a lot of success at 170. If I move to 185, I need to talk to my sponsors, my trainers. It’s a complete change of life,” St-Pierre stated. “Do I want to take the risk, maybe yes. It’s gonna be a great challenge. Maybe, no. But I have to talk with my trainers.”
Because of their overwhelming size difference, St-Pierre suggested the two superstars could meet in a fictitious weight class somewhere in between. If that’s the case, no title belt would be on the line.
“Plus, Silva fights at light heavyweight as well. So he walks around at … he’s probably 40 pounds heavier than I am,” St-Pierre said. “So if I fight this fight, it might be at a catchweight. If it happens.”
Oh no, there goes that ‘IF’ word again…
A catchweight contest wouldn’t be the worst alternative if the UFC is hell-bent on arranging the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history before year’s end. Specifically since Octagon president Dana White previously suggested certain non-championship affairs could still be five-round matchups.
On a completely unrelated side note that has absolutely nothing to do with GSP’s future, St-Pierre defends his welterweight title against Jake Shields at UFC 129 on April 30th.
I wonder what the former Strikeforce champ and his 15-fight winning streak make of all this?
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