Because things change quickly in the world of mixed martial arts, it's never smart to book a fight nine months in advance. The possibility of a Georges St. Pierre-Anderson Silva clash has gone from very likely six weeks ago to Dana White calling it a "fantasy" fight on Saturday.
Around UFC 126, the UFC president sounded pretty certain he'd finally be putting together the superfight between his welterweight and middleweight champions.
After UFC 128, it looks like the fight has been put on the backburner.
"This fight isn't happening," White said. "It's not a fight yet. It's still a big fantasy fight. There are still things that need to happen in the meantime before we sit down and discuss where this fight would be, what weight it would be at, how it would work. It's all just fantasy yet.
"I literally have not talked to Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva about this fight."
GSP echoed those sentiments when he spoke with Cagewriter two weeks ago.
"[...] It's a complete re-orientation of my career. People are saying crazy stuff: 'Oh, he just has to gain 30 pounds and take the fight and fight him in three months.' I can't get 30 pounds in three months. It would take a lot more than that, if I want to go up in weight class," said St. Pierre. "Plus, Silva fights at light heavyweight as well. So he walks around at … he's probably 40 pounds heavier than I am. So if I fight this fight, it might be at a catch weight. If it happens."
Now that the UFC has purchased Strikeforce, that's an even bigger if.
The UFC opened discussions with Strikeforce's former owners starting in December, but when White talked about the superfight possibility at UFC 126, he couldn't have known less than six weeks later, he'd have his pick of the Strikeforce welterweight and middleweight divisions.
Strikeforce's 170 class may not be deep, but it does have a guy in Nick Diaz, who should certainly get a shot at GSP, if the champ gets by Jake Shields at UFC 129 in late April.
The common thought is that Silva has cleaned out the middleweight division. That's utter nonsense. He's got plenty of intriguing fights at 185. Chael Sonnen deserves another shot and if Wanderlei Silva, can stay healthy and get some wins under his belt, that's a mega-fight as well. There's also Yushin Okami and what happens if Michael Bisping keeps piling up wins? The Strikeforce roster also has a few intriguing matchups for Silva led by Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Tim Kennedy and Dan Henderson.
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