By Raphael Garcia 
For years mixed martial arts has been given praise for being a combat sport that was able to provide its fans with the big matchups that they wanted to see. At the top of the heap was the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which consistently produced stacked cards with interesting fights from top to bottom. In recent times, however, there has been one fight that fans and experts alike have wanted to see, one which would match two consensus pound-for-pound greats against one another. Yet as rumors have arisen that an Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre super fight is closer than ever, one can’t help but question whether this is the right time for the fight.
For the past week we have seen multiple stories emerge about a fight between the two men that have held the welterweight and middleweight divisions under lock and key for the last handful of years. Silva has dispatched multiple fighters with a brand of violence that has rarely been seen in the cage, while St. Pierre has controlled his opponents so thoroughly that he has left no doubt that he’s better than them in every way. Fans have debated until they were blue in the face about which fighter would come out on top if they were ever to meet in the Octagon, and that situation seems to be close to happening, as they are rumored to be squaring off in 2013 at Cowboys Stadium. This is an exciting idea for the UFC and mixed martial arts as a whole, but the timing might not be ideal.
First, the UFC’s welterweight and middleweight divisions are both in a period of resurgence. A myriad of contenders are available in both weight classes, and these individuals have all earned their respective claims to title opportunities. Martin Kampmann, Johny Hendricks, Chris Weidman, and Tim Boetsch are all viable contenders for Silva and St. Pierre’s titles. However, if this super fight was booked, that would potentially place both of these weight classes on hold for the majority of the year. The UFC would have an issue on their hands, as they would have to either place these contenders into borderline meaningless matchups, have to worry about those fighters electing to sit out and wait for their opportunities to fight for the title. Both divisions would be forced to have to suffer through lulls that would hamper the organization’s ability to make interesting fights throughout the year.
Next, you have to wonder about the current position of both of these champions, and wonder if we would be seeing them at their best. Silva is in the twilight of his career, and a super fight victory would be a way for him to go out on top. He’s scoffed at the idea of fighting Weidman due to his relative “newness” in the sport. St.Pierre, however, is coming off of a major knee injury, and still has a very tough test in front of him in the form of Carlos Condit at UFC 154. While St. Pierre will be the favorite going into that bout due to his track record, it would not be too surprising to see Condit find a way to pull off a victory over a champion that has been out of the cage for more than a year. At this point, Silva and GSP are not the same fighters there were in 2009 or 2010 when the hype surrounding this bout was at its height.
There are a few different potential super fights that are truly available in the sport of mixed martial arts, but pairing Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre would create the biggest one, and cement the winner as the best fighter of this era. However, it remains to be seen whether the timing of this bout is just right, or if the proper moment to create this matchup has passed.
