Anderson ‘Spider’ Silva is used to being the best. He knocked out Chris Leben in 49 seconds in his first UFC fight in 2006 and has dominated the 185-pound weight class ever since. He has set records for most consecutive UFC wins (16) and title defenses (10) and has never lost in the Octagon; hehas been widely considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world for over half a decade.
Some, including UFC commentator Joe Rogan, believe Silva is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, but the Spider is now 38 years old, an age when most fighters have tapped out of the sport. He will attempt his 11th title defense on Saturday at UFC 162 against hungry, undefeated Chris Weidman.
Silva is still favored, of course, but the odds are the narrowest since his fight against Dan Henderson in 2008. Weidman’s training partner, Georges St.-Pierre, and Chael Sonnen have both proclaimed their belief that Weidman will hand Silva his first defeat in seven years.
Silva will likely not gain much even if he beats Weidman handily. He has nothing left to prove at the middleweight level and should be looking for a new challenge as his career nears its conclusion. The mere mention of some of the possibilities for these “new challenges” is enough to make any UFC fan giddy.
Rumors of a possible “superfight” between Silva and 170-pound champion St.-Pierre have surfaced again and again over the last several years. Silva has made no secret of his desire to fight the welterweight champ, but St.-Pierre believes the fight will not happen for a simple reason: Weidman will beat Silva on Saturday.
It is possible that GSP has backed himself into a corner with those comments. If Silva wins on Saturday, St.-Pierre might be out of reasons not to take the fight, but it appears unlikely that the superfight will happen anytime soon because the welterweight champ has expressed his desire to square off with top 170-pound contender Johny Hendricks in his next fight.
While Silva-St.-Pierre fight rumors have died down over these logistical problems, buzzing of a potential battle between Silva and light-heavyweight champ Jon ‘Bones’ Jones has begun to grow louder. Jones is widely considered to be Anderson’s top competition for “best pound-for-pound fighter” status and has had trouble finding a quality opponent at the 205-pound level. He easily dispatched Sonnen in his last fight.
Silva was originally averse to the idea of a fight against Jones, but as St.-Pierre continues to dance away from the challenge, the Spider has come around to the idea of moving up a class.
After Jones defeated Sonnen in UFC 159, UFC commissioner Dana White released a cryptic statement about a phone call he had with Silva concerning the middleweight’s plans. White failed to mention whom Silva actually called about, but since Jones had just beaten Sonnen mere hours before, it would seem that the call was probably about Jones.
For the record, Silva denies the call ever happened and, as often happens with White, it is difficult to discern what is fact and what is spin to gain publicity for his niche sport.
For now, Silva seems to be completely focused on the task of defending his title against Weidman this Saturday. No matter what happens, Silva is in the conversation for greatest of all time, and he doesn’t need a superfight to prove it.
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or subscribe at Facebook.com/CraveOnlineSports.
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