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5) In mid-2011, Georges St-Pierre defended his welterweight belt for the sixth time against Jake Shields, and Anderson Silva defended his middleweight strap for the ninth time against Yushin Okami. If St-Pierre and Silva had fought for the middleweight title at that point, who would have won?
Jordan Breen: 49-46 GSP.
Jason Burgos: As I mentioned before, St-Pierre is one of my all-time favorites. That said, even at this particular time I felt it was a fight Silva would win. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want it to happen. I certainly did, but “GSP” would not have been a favorite in a fight at 185-pounds. Now, if it had occurred at welterweight—which there were some rumblings at the time about—then it could have been a real pick ‘em.
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Jordan Colbert: Anderson Silva. In his prime he was too big, too fast and too precise. Despite the Chael fight, Anderson had excellent TDD in his prime and the size disparity would have been a bit too much for GSP to overcome.
Tristen Critchfield: There’s
definitely something to St. Pierre being selective with his
opponents, and that critical analysis probably has something to do
with why these two icons never crossed paths in the Octagon. A
prime Anderson Silva would’ve been too skilled and too big for GSP
to handle at 185 pounds.
Jacob Debets: I think “The Spider” would take it, based as much on the weight differential as anything else. Georges St Pierre is obsessed with legacy, and is extraordinarily calculated in how he approaches his opponents. I think he look at Silva, calculated his chances of victory as less than 50/50, and decided to give it a pass.
Ben Duffy: Well, thanks to the infallibility of MMA math and the greatness of Michael Bisping, we have a definitive answer to this question: Georges St. Pierre. Gas up the DeLorean and let’s make it happen.
Tom Feely: I still would've liked to see it, but my gut tells me that GSP would just out-wrestle Silva for most of the fight and win a clear decision.
Mike Fridley: I do not trust that Anderson Silva would have competed clean due to his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs, so my belief is that he would have held an unfair advantage that GSP could not have overcome.
Brian Knapp: I would have favored St. Pierre. I think he could have replicated the route Chael Sonnen took at UFC 117 without getting triangled.
Tudor Leonte: Anderson Silva, he seemed to be from another planet at the time.
Adam Martin: I was in Montreal for UFC 154, when Silva was in attendance after GSP defeated Carlos Condit. I really thought we were going to see the Silva vs. GSP fight after that, but it never happened. Honestly, I still want to see this fight one day, but I doubt it comes to fruition.
As to who I would have taken back in 2011, I would have went with Silva, but it was such a tough fight to call. We saw in the first Chael Sonnen fight that Silva's takedown defense was a big problem and GSP was the most dominant wrestler in the sport last time. But Silva was the most dominant striker and after the way he knocked out Vitor Belfort, I would have picked him against anyone in the world at 185lbs. So I would have picked Silva to win back then, although if they fought today I would pick GSP.
Jay Pettry: 50-44 St-Pierre. He would do what Chael did, except better and even more convincing without any slipups at the end. Silva could have a big moment like when Carlos Condit booted GSP in the head in the third round of their fight, but GSP would establish dominance and never let up.
Mike Sloan: Silva would have beaten the stuffing out of him. It’s that simple. I’ll never be convinced otherwise.
Eric Stinton: I know this is a bad analogue, but I’ve visualized this fight in my mind a million times and I always saw it playing out in a similar way as Leben-Silva, only more technically elevated and less stupid. But I think Silva picks GSP apart at range for a late stoppage or dominant decision. Or possibly, a perplexingly dull majority decision, since it’s Silva.
Anthony Walker: As great as Georges St. Pierre was and despite him winning the middleweight title years later after a long layoff, Anderson Silva would’ve been a different animal. While I rank GSP higher on my all-time list than The Spider, weight classes exist for a reason. A much bigger man who was a near superhuman striker with pinpoint accuracy would’ve been a nightmare for him. I can’t imagine GSP closing the distance to score a takedown unscathed. Also, Silva is no joke off of his back. With the ability to submit from there and the difficulty in keeping him down in the first place, it was probably going to be a rough night for GSP.
Kevin Wilson: It seems everybody is taking Silva based on the size difference, but we saw recently what GSP looked like at 185 and I believe at that point in their careers GSP would have smoked him. I think GSP was intelligent enough to not take any chances on the feet and the striking exchanges would be much closer than expected. On the ground, it’s not even close in my opinion and GSP would have had his way with him for 5 rounds. Silva can always pull off a submission on his back as he did against Chael Sonnen, but I think GSP would be too smart to leave himself open.
Staff Picks:
Anderson Silva: 11
Georges St-Pierre: 6
