One of the primary reasons UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre has put a blockbuster bout against middleweight champ Anderson Silva (Pictured) on the backburner is because he wants adequate time to properly pack on the additional pounds required to face the game’s most decorated fighter. Because when the inevitable time comes to make the jump, GSP plans on leaving the division he’s ruled for six years in his rear-view mirror forever. Well, it appears Silva is willing to make things easy for St-Pierre by completely eliminating the weight obstacle from the equation. “The Spider” won’t even request the 178 pound catchweight that’s been rumored. According to UFC President Dana White, “The Spider” is willing to shed the 15 pounds required to challenge St-Pierre for his 170-pound crown. “Anderson would go to [170], too,” White revealed following Wednesday’s press conference in England. “Yeah, he said he’d do it. He says he can make [170] easy. It’s insane.” White’s statement is quite bizarre. Typically, as fighters get up there in age – Silva clocks 38 in exactly two months, so he’s no spring chicken – they tend to move up in weight rather than down. In addition, Silva hasn’t competed at welterweight since losing to Yushin Okami at “Rumble on the Rock 8.” He weighed 174 pounds for that January 2006 contest. Since the disqualification defeat, Silva has dominated the middleweight class while sprinkling in three light heavyweight scraps. The Brazilian’s sporadic dabbling in the 205-pound division is why most thought the superfight with reigning light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had a greater possibility of coming to fruition than with GSP. White’s hoping for all of the above. “I’ll take either one, and both,” White stated. Meanwhile, St-Pierre defends his throne against Nick Diaz at UFC 158. Silva plans on marinating until the spring, with Chris Weidman emerging as the frontrunner to score next dibs at his crown.
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February 13, 2013
