It is a rare occasion when you get an inside look at Anderson Silva. Like Water shows a fascinating backstory behind one of the greatest fights and fighters in UFC history yet still left plenty of unanswered questions about who Anderson Silva really is.

I recently found some time to watch the Silva doc which is on Netflix and I have to say that I thought it was very good. It certainly wasn’t the best sports documentary I have ever seen but it was better than the average. The documentary follows Silva as he prepares for what turned out to be arguably the greatest championship fight in UFC history against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.

If you are expecting to learn a lot about The Spider I think you’ll be disappointed. They certainly cover Silva’s beginnings and his entry into MMA. But the background is very brief which I found unfortunate. I would have loved to know when the greatest fighter of all time evolved, struggles early on, lessons he learned, stories about training with Wanderlei and his team, Pride FC, etc. They just aren’t here. This is more a simple story about the champion preparing for a fight than it is about Anderson Silva’s story.

The timeline here in Silva’s career makes this documentary even better. Silva is coming off a controversial win over Demian Maia at UFC 112. Silva and the UFC are at odds with Dana White basically threatening Silva’s job if he repeats that same performance against Chael. Ironically Silva never actually addresses this issue which seems kind of bizarre considering how big of a story this was and the fact that Dana actually addresses this in the documentary.

Silva leaves his family for three months and comes to the United States to train for the fight. Silva appears to be having a great time with his MMA family and friends. The film shows a different side of Silva during this time as a coach, a side you don’t see in the UFC. Silva is working with a protégé and winds up seconding him at a small MMA show. Silva is intense as a coach and shows more emotion during these few minutes than he often shows during his own fights. One of the biggest criticisms that Silva’s critics have of him is a lack of passion. He’s got passion, but where he shows it is the biggest question for me.

One of the biggest takeaways I had from this movie is that none of the trash talking Chael Sonnen did leading up to UFC 117 got to Silva. Anderson didn’t seem bothered at all and Silva’s manager Ed Soares appeared to find Sonnen’s insults more amusing than offensive. It’s funny because going into UFC 117 you had a lot of MMA fans and reporters playing up this story about Sonnen being in Silva’s head. He just wasn’t. Silva was more home sick than he was motivated by Sonnen’s promos.

Remember following UFC 117 and Silva said that he had injured ribs coming into the fight? I looked out during his training for this injury because Sonnen and some others accused Silva of lying about it. It happened. Silva did hurt his ribs close to the fight but it is really hard to ascertain how badly they were injured. There is a scene where he is warming up a day or so before the fight and he has to stop because they were bothering him. They certainly weren’t broken but there absolutely was some kind of rib injury prior to the fight.

I had mixed feelings about seeing Silva with his fans. Silva seems to have a really good time meeting fans and taking pictures. However, there is a scene where Ed is asking Anderson if he mocked the fans in his foreign tongue which Silva says he didn’t. Obviously for that question to be asked it must have happened before. There is also another scene where Silva is playing around and has to be dragged kicking and screaming to an autograph signing.

The other biggest takeaway for me was the scene where Silva and his team were practicing for the exact same scenario that ended the fight with Sonnen. Silva and his team were practicing Silva getting a triangle from his back. What is interesting here is that it appeared that Silva was having a bit of a hard time getting it during training, which of course could be due to the magic of editing. Nonetheless I was blown away to see him actually preparing for that same scenario which ended the fight.

On a side note if you watch the UFC 148 behind the scenes special that has aired on Fuel TV, you can see Sonnen practicing the spinning backfist quite a bit.

Other than the fight the most dramatic scene in the movie is probably the call Dana White makes to Ed Soares after the infamous UFC 117 media call. Silva gives one word answers throughout the conference call as Ed is seen just shaking his head in a remote location, obviously frustrated with his friend and client. Immediately after the call Dana calls Ed and basically threatens Silva’s job. Ed took it seriously and you have to feel for the guy who is caught in between White and Silva at a time when Silva was on the hot seat.

Even at that rate it still boggles my mind as to why the UFC never promoted this piece. One of the biggest problems they have with Silva is his lack of desire to do promotion. Here is a great vehicle to show fans and media another side of their biggest star. Maybe the fact that Chael comes back with a hot PED test dissuaded them from wanting to push the movie? I don’t know but it seemed like a natural and yet I don’t recall the UFC ever doing one second of promotion for it.

The biggest disappointment here is that you still don’t get to know the Spider in this documentary. Sure you follow him in training but there is not a whole lot learned here. If the fight didn’t turn out to be as legendary as it has, I wonder if the documentary would have been half as interesting. Lucky for them it didn’t and helped create a compelling movie with Like Water.

Anderson Silva: Like Water

Anderson Silva – MMA Instruction Manual: The Muay Thai Clinch, Takedowns, Takedown Defense, and Ground Fighting

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Dana White needs to stop any future talk about Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva because it is clear GSP isn’t interested. Now if he wants to set his sights on GSP vs. Benson Henderson, he may have better luck according to the UFC welterweight champ.

The UFC president was at it again last week when he told the media that he was going to make another attempt to sign the Silva vs. GSP super fight. White said that he expected an answer from GSP last week but never followed up with the media on it. GSP on the other hand was glad to talk to the media on it and it isn’t happening, at least not now.

GSP is doing media for his new autobiography “The Way of the Fight” and sat down with UFC color commentator Joe Rogan on Rogan’s podcast to talk about the book. Of course the subject immediately shifted to Anderson Silva and GSP gave what I think is one of the most honest answers you’ll ever hear from a fighter that isn’t interested in a fight he doesn’t think he will win.

“Anderson Silva is very big,” St-Pierre said. “He’s 230 pounds. He’s a very big guy walking around, and I’m 190 pounds. It’s a lot of weight difference. If this fight happens one day, we’re going to have to decide what weight class and everything.”

Not all is lost. GSP told Rogan that if Silva can come down to welterweight, he’d take the fight.

“If he can make 170, he can weigh 170, I can weigh 170, and everything is fine.”

From the start of this Silva vs. St-Pierre talk, GSP has been rather consistent in his worry about the size difference between the two fighters. GSP has said numerous times that he would have to come up in weight and he isn’t comfortable with that. As a fan as much as I admire GSP I have said from the start that I felt Silva was too big for him. There is a big size difference there and as fun as the fight is on paper, MMA has weight classes for a reason.

These comments are also interesting in regards to what GSP’s current trainer and ex-manager have said in recent interviews. Both have said that GSP had a three-fight plan and that the plan was Diaz, Silva, Hendricks, and then retirement. GSP seemed to indicate that he would take the fight with Johny Hendricks next and stay at 170. Hendricks can now relax because it appears that he is getting his title shot.

Now that said, not all talk about super fights is dead. GSP told Rogan that a move to 155 pounds is something that he’d actually entertain. He told Rogan that the 155 pound fighters walk around at 190 which is what he weighs. UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson has talked about wanting to fight GSP. Maybe Dana White and the UFC need to start working on the super fight that they can actually sign instead of chasing the ones they can’t.

GSP never said the Silva fight is dead, but unless the Spider is dropping to 170 (which he has said he’d do), it isn’t happening anytime soon.

Georges St-Pierre: The Way of the Fight Book

Anderson Silva: Like Water

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Leave it to Jon Jones to crush the hopes and dreams of UFC fans. Just days after UFC president Dana White told the media that the UFC had plans for a Jones vs. Anderson Silva fight in the fall, Bones made sure to remind fans that super fights in the UFC are simply more myth than reality.

The ironic thing about super fights in the UFC is that these big dream fights are often talked about for years yet rarely ever signed. I’ll give the UFC credit for pulling off Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz after a couple of failed attempts but their inability to sign the mega bouts is a hump that the company just seem to get over.

In the case of Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones it appeared that there was some real activity here in regards to this fight actually being made. After saying no for almost two years, the Spider had a recent change of heart and has started talking openly about his desire to fight Jones. Dana White quickly hopped on that bandwagon and both he and the UFC middleweight champ even seemed to have a date in mind, the 20th anniversary event.

And then Jon Jones came along to remind you that dream fights in the UFC don’t happen that easily.

Jones is doing media for his upcoming UFC 159 headliner with Chael Sonnen and was asked about fighting Silva on Monday’s conference call.

Jon Jones has his eyes set on bigger fish than Anderson Silva. Jones is eyeing Tito Ortiz, specifically Ortiz’s record of five UFC light heavyweight title defenses. Saturday’s fight against Sonnen will tie that record. Jones wants to break it and according to the champ, that is more important than any super fight. Jones told the media that after Sonnen he wants to defend the title in November before entertaining super fights. When asked specifically about the Silva fight Jones responded, “I said what I said.”

Likable guy isn’t he?

Now I will say this before I declare the November fight dead with Silva. This could simply be a public negotiating ploy by Jones. Silva is saying yes, the UFC certainly wants it, so at this point Jones does have all the cards when it comes to negotiating. Jones has said no to fights in the past that wound up being signed, such as the one this Saturday. Maybe this is nothing more than a negotiating tactic.

Jones likes to call himself a “business man.” What kind of sane business man would pass up an opportunity to make the most money he has ever made by fighting Silva (on the anniversary show nonetheless) for a title defense against Lyoto Machida?

Jones is a wealthy man but he doesn’t draw big buyrates and he hasn’t been on top that long. He is preparing for a fight now that has less interest than any championship fight he has participated in on pay per view. The Silva fight would be a life changer for him. He can go chase Tito’s record after the Silva fight. Timing is everything and fighting Silva on the 20th anniversary show would give the UFC its biggest fight ever. If he is sincere, passing that pay day up for a record that quite honestly nobody really cares about is just insane.

This would also explain Dana White’s recent statements regarding Anderson Silva vs. GSP. That super fight (which White guaranteed) was dead. GSP was scheduled to fight Johny Hendricks and the company was looking at Silva vs. Jones for the fall. Out of nowhere White told reporters last week that the company was making another play for that fight and were waiting on GSP for an answer. Maybe Jones is serious and now realizing that they have no mega fight set up for the 20th anniversary show, the UFC went back to the GSP-Silva well?

There also has to be some responsibility placed on the UFC here. It is one thing when boxing dream fights can’t be made due to rival promoters. The UFC promotes all of these guys and yet fails time and time again to pull off these mega fights. Nobody is forcing these guys to fight so unless you have verbal agreements from these guys, it is time to stop teasing the public with talk of these mega fights that never deliver.

Georges St-Pierre: The Way of the Fight Book

Anderson Silva: Like Water

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I have always been a fan of Georges St-Pierre and found him to be a stand up guy. Yet his reluctance to fight the true number one contender is troubling, in addition to the UFC support behind it. It’s time fight Johny Hendricks or vacate the title and abolish the rankings.

It appeared coming out of UFC 158 that everything was on target for a big UFC welterweight championship fight. Johny Hendricks won his sixth fight in a row against elite competition in the UFC and was guaranteed the next fight with GSP by UFC officials. Several weeks later and an interesting comment later, that fight is no closer to taking place than it was before Hendricks stepped into the octagon with Carlos Condit.

UFC president Dana White made what I thought was a shocking statement last week. White told the media that the UFC were once again making a play for a Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva fight.

“If Georges says to me, ‘I want to fight Anderson Silva,’ you think I’m going to go, ‘No you’re not – you’re fighting Johny Hendricks. We’ll talk about that later’?”

White then told the media that St-Pierre would not have to vacate the title to fight Silva. White said that the plan would be for GSP to move up and then move back down and defend the title against Hendricks.

Come again?

I am so sick of this proposed Silva vs. GSP talk. Remember when Dana White guaranteed that he was going to make the fight happen after GSP vs. Condit? Either move on or don’t say another word about it until you have bout agreements signed by all parties. It’s freaking pathetic already.

But what about Hendricks? I’ll admit that I was in favor of the UFC passing Hendricks over for Nick Diaz in regards to GSP’s last fight. That was probably a mistake and Hendricks proved me wrong when he came out victorious over the former interim champion. At this point enough is enough. The guy just beat the former interim champ, won his sixth in a row, and has been promised the next fight with GSP. It’s time to do what is right and give the guy his title shot.

The UFC introduced rankings a few months back. Dana said at the time that the rankings wouldn’t have influence over match making which begs the question as to why even have them in the first place. I know FOX wanted them but what’s the point if they mean nothing. If Hendricks has to sit again and wait I say abolish these rankings altogether, at least at welterweight. There is zero credibility if this happens.

I don’t know what happened because the plan seemed fairly clear the last few weeks. Chris Weidman would fight Silva, GSP would fight Hendricks, and then Silva would fight Jon Jones at the 20th Anniversary event. How we got back to GSP vs. Silva is a great question. Considering the fact that GSP has a movie coming up and probably wouldn’t be fighting until the fall, a fight with Silva would require Hendricks to sit out a year or more for his title shot. It’s just ridiculous.

Again I get it and the UFC has made it perfectly clear that this is a business. Unfortunately this company has lost more credibility in the last year because of this. I think at this point there are enough people excited about seeing Hendricks fight for the title that the idea of putting the fight the off seems bizarre. Is the UFC worried that Hendricks will beat GSP and thus want to shoot the GSP vs. Silva fight now? It sounds like a dumb question but when you really look at the big picture, why else would they steal the guy’s title shot that they have promised him twice?

Hendricks may have to show up at GSP’s camp to get his title shot after all.

Georges St-Pierre: The Way of the Fight Book

Anderson Silva: Like Water

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As the UFC schedule continues to roll along at breakneck speeds, MMA fans should be gearing up for an action-packed Spring-Early summer schedule as the world’s leading promotion has a number of events scheduled over the next few months. In this blog we’ll take a look at a schedule of the upcoming cards and highlight the fighters and fights to watch out for. Before we get started, I should point out the usual UFC disclaimer that all fight cards are scheduled to change, and if the past is any indication, there could be a number of these cards shuffled, main events scrapped or changed as fighters become injured.

APRIL

Event: UFC on Fox 7: Henderson vs. Melendez

Date: April 20, 2013

Venue: HP Pavilion in San Jose, California

The first stop on our preview takes us to the Sunshine State of California where Benson Henderson will once again defend his UFC Lightweight title on free television. He’ll welcome Striekforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez to the UFC in a match between two champions. The co-main event will see debut of Heavyweight star Daniel Cormier as he makes his UFC debut by taking on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. A lightweight scrap that seems destined for Fight of the Night honors is also on tap as Nate Diaz battles Strikeforce import Josh Thompson. Recently debuted Jordan Mein fresh off his impressive stoppage of Dan Miller at UFC 158 replaces injured Dan Hardy to take on the surging Matt Brown.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Projection: Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thompson or Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama

Event: UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen

Date: April 27, 2013

Venue: Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey

Grudge match? Says who? If you watched the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter you certainly wouldn’t think that these two men were bitter rivals preparing for a huge battle against each other. While I’m sure the UFC was banking on fireworks and trash talk, Jones and Sonnen remained mostly courteous and calm when dealing with each other during the show. Trash talk will certainly ramp up as the show ends and Sonnen goes into full on promotion mode. The co-main event of the evening features another grudge match as Middleweight sluggers Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher are set to square off. Also featured on the main Pay Per View card is a Heavyweight fight between Roy Nelson and Cheick Kongo, a Light Heavyweight bout between Phil Davis and Vinny Magalhaes and a Lightweight bout between Jim Miller and Pat Healy.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Projection: Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher or Erik Perez vs. Johnny Bedford

MAY

Event: UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Date: May 18, 2013

Venue: Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil

The UFC returns to one of it’s new favorite destinations as they head to Brazil for yet another summer card on FX. The main event is a highly intriguing bout between Brazilian MMA pioneer Vitor Belfort and the final Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold. Both men are well known for their striking prowess, so I would expect that the majority of this bout will take place on the feet, at least until someone gets knocked out. The co-main event of the evening features 2 more rising stars in the Middleweight division as Constantios Philippou looks to continue his winning streak against debuting Strikeforce veteran Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza. That bout will certainly be an interesting styles-clash pitting the powerful boxing of Philippou against the top-level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu of Souza. Other main card bouts include Rafael dos Anjos vs. Evan Dunham in a potential Lightweight thriller and Chris Camozzi battling Rafael Natal in Middleweight action.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Projection: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Evan Dunham or Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold

Event: UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2

Date: May 25, 2013

Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

Heavyweight action is on the docket for the UFC’s return to Las Vegas. Although the main event is a rematch that no one was really asking for, it’s nice to see a title bout where the challenger actually earns his shot. Something that Antonio Silva did by smashing former number one contender Alistair Overeem. Speaking of Overeem he was expected to battle Junior dos Santos in a Heavyweight grudge match in the co-main event, but an injury to him has seen him replaced by former K-1 kickboxer Mark Hunt. Other main card action sees Glover Teixeira trying to continue his run up the Light Heavyweight rankings as he battles hard-hitting James Te-Huna. A pair of Lightweight bouts round off the main card in what could both be potential Fight of the Night award winners. First off Donald Cerrone battles Strikeforce import KJ Noons in a battle between two guys who love to stand and trade. The second is a bout between fringe contenders in the Lightweight division TJ Grant and Gray Maynard.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Prediction: Donald Cerrone vs. KJ Noons or Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Abel Trujillo

JUNE

Event: UFC on Fuel TV 10: Nogueira vs. Werdum

Date: June 8, 2013

Venue: Paulo Sarasate Arena in Fortaleza, Brazil

This event will serve as the finale for the second season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Head coaches for the season are Heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum, those two men will square off in the main event with a potential title shot likely looming for the victor. The card will feature the finals of the Welterweight season of the show. Other main card bouts scheduled for the show include Light Heavyweights Thiago Silva taking on former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Rafael Cavalcante and Welterweight young guns Erick Silva and John Hathaway.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Projection: Erick Silva vs. John Hathaway or Thiago Silva vs. Rafael Cavalcante

Event: UFC 161: Barao vs. Wineland

Date: June 15, 2013

Venue: MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The UFC makes its debut in Winnipeg as they head to the MTS Centre, the home of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. The card features a main event for the UFC’s Interim Bantamweight Championship as Renan Barao defends his title against former WEC Bantamweight Champion Eddie Wineland. A throwback to the golden days of PRIDE is also planned for the co-main event as Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira rematch in Light Heavyweight action. Former Light Heavyweight Champions do battle when Rashad Evans battles Dan Henderson. A women’s Bantamweight bout will open the Pay Per View event as Rosi Sexton battles Alexis Davis. Heavyweight action rounds out the main PPV card as Pat Barry battles Shawn Jordan.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Projection: Mauricio Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland

JULY & BEYOND

Event: UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman

Date: July 6, 2013

Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

The Spider finally returns to the octagon, as Anderson Silva is set to defend his Middleweight title in the main event against undefeated challenger Chris Weidman. Weidman is an interesting style match up for the champion and that combined with his undefeated professional record has many people interested in this bout. The co-main event of the night has fireworks written all over it as top Featherweight contenders Chan Sung Jung and Ricardo Lamas do battle for a shot at the UFC Featherweight Championship. Middleweight scrappers Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch will look to get their octagon careers back on the right track against one another. More top Featherweight contenders will be in action as Frankie Edgar looks for his first victory in his new weightclass when he battled Charles Oliveira. In the opening bout of the Pay Per View Featherweight sluggers Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver will lock horns.

CARD GOES HERE

Fight of the Night Award Projection: There are just way too many on this card. Without exception all of the fights on the PPV card could be potential Fight of the Night candidates, some of them maybe even Fight of the Year candidates. Since that’s a bit of a cop out, I’ll take Siver vs. Swanson as my pick.

Event: UFC on Fox 8

Date: July 27, 2013

Venue: Key Arena in Seattle Washington

Currently the only bout announced for this card is a bout between struggling Lightweights Melvin Guillard and Mac Danzig. I don’t suspect those two will even earn a spot on the Fox card by the time this event fills up, especially with the way the UFC has been stacking these cards recently. I would expect to see a title defended in the main event. The leading contender is probably the Flyweight title, provided that champion Demetrious Johnson can recover from his injury in time.

Event: UFC 163: Aldo vs. Pettis

Date: August 3, 2013

Venue: HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Georges St-Pierre: The Way of the Fight Book

Anderson Silva: Like Water

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The AARP must be tired of hearing from Nick Diaz. Diaz has retired and un-retired more in the last 2 years than Terry Funk has in a decade. According to the latest report Diaz is indeed retired, unless of course the UFC offers him their two biggest guns.

Diaz announcing his retirement is not a new thing. Diaz has been using this retirement chip to get what he wants going back to when he retired in Strikeforce to become a boxer only to sign with the UFC for a fight with Georges St-Pierre. Diaz is playing this hand again and like last time, will come out of “retirement” for a fight with GSP or Anderson Silva.

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani broke the news on UFC Tonight. Helwani talked directly to Diaz’s attorney Jonathon Tweedale who told Helwani that his client is retired but maybe not for the right price.

“Right now Nick is retired, unless he gets rematch with Georges St-Pierre or the big Anderson Silva fight. Apparently if he doesn’t get those, he’s going to remain retired.”

What makes this a bit different from Diaz’s other retirements is that a) he is going public with his demands and b) they aren’t coming from Diaz. Quite frankly it is almost an identical play off of the WWE angle where Paul Heyman announced Brock Lesnar was retiring but would come back for a match with Triple H.

I am a Diaz fan, always have been, but I have to admit that he lost me after the GSP fight. He talked a lot of trash for the last several years about what he would do and how he would do it to St-Pierre. I paid my $60 and I watched a guy come into this fight uninspired and dominated for a great deal of the fight. It is one thing to go down fighting. It is another thing to go down uninspired. I won’t get fooled again.

Unfortunately Diaz’s demands come at a time where I think the majority of the MMA world feels as I do. When Diaz teased his retirement before, we all wanted to see the GSP fight and begged the UFC to make the fight. I don’t know about you but I have zero interest in a rematch here. There was nothing to this fight that left me wanting to see more. I am not saying it was a bad fight. I am just saying it was a decisive fight, Nick had his shot, and it’s time to go earn another one.

This is also coming from a guy that openly mocked the idea that he may not even pass the drug tests coming out of the fight with GSP. That was another deal that lost me. I will root for Diaz in the octagon and I think he did have a bit of a case with his first suspension. But when you tell me two days before the biggest fight of your life that you aren’t even sure you’ll pass the drug tests, well I no longer have your back as a fan.

Diaz received what will be by far his biggest payday ever as a fighter for his last fight. For a guy that has done nothing but complain about money for the last three years, I don’t know why he would walk away during his prime earning time as a fighter. Those windows don’t last long if you don’t win and he is now 0-2 in his last two fights. I won’t even get into the idea that the guy may or may not owe a boatload of money on back taxes.

Timing is also everything here. UFC fans don’t want to see GSP or Silva fight Diaz in the immediate future. Both fighters have bigger opportunities and fans are licking their chops at either a mega fight between the two, Silva vs. Jon Jones, and even Johny Hendricks vs. GSP. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to see Diaz vs. GSP or Silva jump to the front of that line. In other words unlike last time, the UFC will have zero public pressure to acquiesce to Diaz’s demands.

Is Diaz serious? I don’t think so. All the guy has ever done is fight. I don’t see him walking away from a loss and calling it a career. I think this is a Hail Mary that he has little to no shot at completing.

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Anderson Silva: Like Water Documentary

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It’s on, it’s off, it’s on, it’s off, and now it could be back on again. That is the story of Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre. While GSP has publicly shown little interest, a new report says that he is not only interested, but the Spider may be his next opponent.

If I read one more tease about this Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre fight I am going to throw my computer out the window. Everyone in the UFC has teased this fight over the last few years except one guy, Georges St-Pierre. The UFC welterweight champion appeared to be the only holdup in making this fight happen. According to his trainer, GSP has come around.

GSP’s trainer Firas Zahabi either never got the memo, let the cat out of the bag, or is doing some slick negotiating on behalf of his star pupil. Zahabi recently revealed to Sherdog.com that all of the talk about Johny Hendricks vs. GSP may be premature and it is Silva vs. St-Pierre that could be next for the champion.

“If he fights Hendricks, I think (GSP) could fight for longer. He could have more fights after that. If he fights Anderson Silva, I could really see that being his last fight. He’ll retire after that because there won’t be a bigger fight for him to do, I think, anymore in his career.”

Zahabi goes on to tell Sherdog Radio that he believes that win or lose if St-Pierre fights Silva, that the fight would mark the end of the champion’s career. Zahabi said that once GSP moves up in weight for the fight that “he’s never coming back down” and will probably end on that note.

The only one not excited about this revelation has to be Johny Hendricks. Hendricks is probably livid after hearing those comments. Hendricks took a backseat to Nick Diaz at UFC 158 and was promised a win over Carlos Condit will move him to the front of the line. While he could still fight for a vacated title (should GSP leave the division with a Silva fight), it isn’t the same thing as fighting GSP. It’s fight he has earned and a pay day he won’t get fighting anyone else at welterweight.

I don’t care what the UFC says, if GSP wants to fight Silva next, Hendricks is going to have to wait. At the end of the day this is a business, as the UFC has proven time and time again. Even the biggest Hendricks supporter has to come to grips with the financial bonanza a Silva vs. St-Pierre offers the UFC over Hendricks vs. GSP. It’s not fair but it’s just the way it is.

This also brings back to Anderson Silva. Silva is signed to fight Chris Weidman in a UFC middleweight title defense this summer. Silva has been talking about a potential Jon Jones mega fight at the 20th anniversary event in November. What does the UFC do? Personally I’d like to see a Jones vs. Silva fight, let Hendricks fight GSP, and then match GSP and Silva up. It’s a great dilemma to have if you are the UFC.

And somewhere Johny Hendricks continues to fume.

Anderson Silva Complete 4 DVD SET Boxing for MMA, Striking Combos, Takedowns & Takedown Defense, Muay Thai Clinch for MMA

Anderson Silva: Like Water Documentary

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