MMA icon Georges St-Pierre reveals 3 demands he made to face Anderson Silva at his peak in the UFC.

GSP backstage at the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC

PUBLICITY:

Over the years, MMA fans and professionals have dreamed of UFC superfights, but for some reason, they always remain just that – dreams. In fact, Anderson Silva A fight between Georges St-Pierre and the Canadian champions was one of the most requested at the peak of both their careers, from 2007 to 2013. Now, almost 20 years later, the Canadian has revealed one of the reasons that prevented the fight against 'The Spider'.

In conversation with the also legendary Demetrious Johnson On his YouTube channel, GSP confessed that he made three demands to the UFC to face Anderson. Furthermore, the Canadian made it clear that the organization wanted to make the super fight happen, thus eliminating the idea that they missed the opportunity by not featuring the kings of the welterweight (up to 77,1 kg) and middleweight (up to 83,9 kg) divisions at the time.

See too

Important help! Valter Walker invites Tallison Xicão for training in Russia after UFC fiasco.

Donald Trump surprises everyone by considering keeping the UFC octagon permanently at the White House.

Khabib Nurmagomedov opens up and justifies his cousin's fight at UFC Baku; understand why.

Precisely because he was aware of the UFC's desire to see him fight the Brazilian and the magnitude of the encounter, GSP increased his value and made his demands. However, Dana White's organization did not yield to the Canadian's wishes, and thus, the superfight with Anderson was lost forever.

“What happened was that, at the time, when Anderson and I were at the peak of our careers, I can only speak from my perspective. I don't know what happened on Anderson's side. I was only contacted once by Dana and Lorenzo, and I made the request because I thought, 'OK, if you want me to move up a weight class, I need to be compensated because it's different,'” said the MMA legend.

"I have many challengers in my category, so if I were to fight someone bigger, I would need to change my training, try to gain muscle mass. So, my request to fight against..." Anderson Silva "It was a better contract, better pay, first and foremost. I wanted the fight to be at a catchweight, because Anderson fought in PRIDE at welterweight and I knew he could cut weight."

“I don’t know if he could have cut weight at that moment. It seems like he got heavier over time, so I don’t know. It’s just an impression. So it would be at a catchweight, so that later I could go back to welterweight. If I went up in weight, I would need to cut it again, because I wouldn’t want to spend my career at middleweight. And the third point was that I wanted them to implement anti-doping tests.”

“The UFC never responded to me. That was my intention, 'If you make this happen, I'm in, no problem. If the agreed weight was 81,6 kg (180 pounds), the compensation was reasonable, and also the anti-doping tests, I would agree.' But the UFC didn't follow through with it. I don't know if they spoke to Anderson about it, but they only asked me once,” he concluded.

GSP Curriculum

Georges St PierreRush, 45, is known as one of the greatest and best MMA fighters in history. The Canadian began his career in the sport in 2002 and fought his last fight in 2017. In the UFC, 'Rush' was champion in the welterweight and middleweight divisions and was inducted into the company's Hall of Fame.

In his career, GSP built a record of 26 wins and two losses. His main triumphs were against B.J. Penn (twice), Carlos Condit, Jake Shields, John hendricks, Jon Fitch, Josh koscheck (twice), Matt hugs (twice), Michael Bisping, Nick Diaz, Among others.