The Spider to 205 Brings up a Multitude of Questions
Yesterday, Fighters Only ran a story that featured a statement made by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira that talked about a matchup between UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Number One Contender Yushin Okami. He claimed that this fight could take place at UFC Rio in August, but then also stated that he is confident Silva will win and once he does he plans to move up to the Light Heavyweight division, as a result of no further competition at Middleweight.
The first thing that comes to mind is “what would happen if Okami were to actually defeat Anderson Silva?” Would Silva then stick around at Middleweight for a rematch? Would he have to go through the gambit of Middleweights again on his way back to a title shot? Would the loss assist in his campaign to move to Light Heavyweight since he would no longer have the title?
The second thing that comes to mind is “what about the proposed Superfight with Welterweight champion George St. Pierre?” For months, the biggest fight many fans have wanted to see is between GSP and The Spider. Already one weight class apart, a jump to Light Heavyweight for Silva would put him even further away from GSP and less likely to meet him in The Octagon. Although GSP has Jake Shields in front of him, many are already looking past Shields and onto the Superfight.
On the other hand, many fans began calling for a Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva Superfight after Jones dismantled Shogun Rua at UFC 128. If Silva were to move up to Light Heavyweight, a fight with Jones could come to fruition following his fight with current Number One Contender Rashad Evans. If Jones were to defeat Evans, Silva could be named Number One Contender and the Superfight would also be for the title. Consequently, if Jones lost to Evans, the Superfight with Silva could still go down with just as much excitement.
As it currently stands, nothing is set in stone as far as Superfights go. The possibilities are there, but there are still a lot of cards that must fall into place before anything can be determined. The only thing that is certain is that GSP will defend his Welterweight Championship against Jake Shields later this month, Anderson Silva will defend his Middleweight Championship against Yushin Okami possibly this summer and Jon Jones will defend his Lightweight Championship against Rashad Evans at some point later this year.
Although Silva has shown he can hang at 205 (defeating Forrest Griffin and James Irvin), he has stated before that he is a Middleweight fighter and wants to finish his career at 185. Nogueira, on the other hand, seems to know something that we don’t, causing questions after questions…….
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Aspiring chef turned MMA writer after financial issues prevented me from pursuing my first dream. Ever since I started watching MMA, I've read up about it and talk about it all the time and with the encouragement of family and friends I finally decided to actively pursue a career in writing about it.Subscribe
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