Via Camel Clutch Blog:
I am getting to the point where I wish all of this Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre talk will just go away. Anderson Silva is now clarifying a report about his attendance this Saturday at UFC 154 which makes this confusing story that much more confusing.
It was reported by several outlets that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva would be in attendance at UFC 154. The reason this was such a big story is that Silva is known for being relatively reclusive between fights. MMA reporter Dave Meltzer went as far as to reportthat Silva would be there to challenge GSP if he wins. According to the champ, that is not the case at all.
Silva explained his appearance to Tatame.com and if you aren’t confused about this whole scenario before, you will be. The Spider says that he will not be entering the cage to challenge GSP should St-Pierre defeat Carlos Condit.
“I’m on vacation for the fight. I think we just come back at the end of next year … I’m going to Los Angeles and then going to Canada for the fight of St. Pierre. I’m already going to be there to shoot a movie, a feature film that I’ll participate in with Lyoto (Machida). It’s not my character to up and challenge anyone. I think it will not happen. I think not, I’m sure (laughs).”
The big takeaway for me is that Silva says he will not be fighting until the end of 2013. Keep in mind that Silva said after UFC 148 that he wouldn’t fight again until early January and wound up fighting a few months later. However, if that really is the intention of the UFC champion than that throws all of the obvious booking plans completely out of whack.
Most suspected that the working plan would be make a Silva vs. St-Pierre fight coming out of UFC 154. If Silva isn’t fighting until late 2013, that fight is likely off of the table. Win or lose my money would be on GSP going from Condit to Nick Diaz. That fight is in demand and is on the UFC wish list of big fights the promotion hopes to make in 2013. The timing could work with GSP fighting Diaz in April or May and then fighting Silva in the fall.
GSP is a guy who likes to fight three times a year. I can’t imagine GSP sitting back for almost an entire year after a lengthy layoff to wait for Silva. Additionally, it appears that it is Silva pushing for this fight more than GSP. I have to think the UFC would also want GSP fighting as opposed to sitting back and watching two of its top draws idle on the sidelines.
The other question here is where this leaves the potential Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones megafight? Jones is fighting Chael Sonnen in April and has expressed a desire to fight Dan Henderson. I could see Jones remaining idle until the fall and waiting on the Silva fight should he win as expected against Sonnen. The timing may actually work more in the favor of making that elusive Jones vs. Silva fight. My hunch is that if the UFC really thinks that GSP vs. Silva has left the station, they will put on a full court press to get Silva vs. Jones signed for 2013.
UFC 154 will be a fascinating night for a lot of reasons. One of them specifically being what goes down between Anderson Silva and GSP. Unfortunately for those of you waiting for a big WWE angle, you are probably going to wind up disappointed.
Original Story:
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November 12, 2012
