Georges St-Pierre not interested in Anderson Silva fight: 'He's not the same as he was'

With the planned middleweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and champion Michael Bisping now off the table, the question has once again emerged about whom “Rush” will fight when he makes his long-awaited return to the UFC later this year.

One person St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) said is not on his radar is fellow former longtime UFC champion Anderson Silva (34-8 MMA, 16-4 UFC). A matchup between the two future UFC Hall of Famers has been a topic of discussion for the better part of a decade, but it never came to fruition during the prime of their careers.

The circumstances for a clash between St-Pierre and “The Spider” seem like they couldn’t be any better than now. Neither fighter is attached to a UFC title, and Silva has recently expressed interest in booking what as once considered the biggest super fight in all of MMA.

St-Pierre’s excitement level over the idea seems have to be low, however, and as he told TSN at a recent promotional event in Toronto, the timing for a showdown with the Brazilian isn’t right in his mind.

“It could happen; it depends on the condition (because) fights are about timing,” St-Pierre said. “Sometimes the guys stock are higher, and sometimes it’s lower. You want the guy that the stock is the highest. It fluctuates. I don’t think his stock right now is very high. He’s a legend for the stuff he has done in the past, but he’s not the same as he was back in the day.”

St-Pierre and Silva circled each other for years while simultaneously holding the UFC welterweight and middleweight titles, respectively. St-Pierre’s reign came to an end in December 2013 when he vacated the belt to take a hiatus from the sport, while Silva’s nearly six-year run with the gold was halted by Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July 2013.

Talks for the fight fizzled when “GSP” left the sport and Silva began to take repeated losses, but now that he’s back, the two have once again become attached.

At 41, Silva has won just one of his past five fights, but he’s still a significant name that can display the flashes of brilliance inside the octagon that has prompted many to label him the best fighter of all time.

That doesn’t get St-Pierre’s, 35, blood flowing, though; he made it clear when he returned the sport that he wanted to conquer the biggest challenges available. In his mind that was a title fight with Bisping, which was officially announced in March – but with no date or location attached.

St-Pierre said he wouldn’t be ready to fight Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) until at least October, which according to UFC President Dana White, was way too far away, so he decided to pull the plug. St-Pierre recently told MMAjunkie he’s still holding out hope for the fight with “The Count,” but White said that’s not currently part of his plans.

According to White, who spoke with reporters following Saturdays’ UFC 211 event in Dallas, he’s cut off talks with St-Pierre for the time being because his comeback fight is still months away. He’s not sure whom the French-Canadian will fight, but said it would likely be at welterweight, which, obviously, is not where Silva competes.

“I told ‘GSP’ obviously it’s not worth talking about right now until we look at the landscape,” White said. “He needs to figure out what he wants to do in the 170-pound division, who he wants to fight there. I don’t know if he wants to move up in weight and fight these murderers at 185. I think he liked the Bisping fight. I think he saw that as a fight that was winnable and saw Bisping as the guy who is beatable.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.