"Overall, I think it would have been an extremely close fight" - Michael Bisping breaks down and predicts renowned fantasy matchup between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre
Michael Bisping has put forth a breakdown of the fantasy matchup between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Bisping recalled defeating Silva and losing to St-Pierre.
He noted that Silva and St-Pierre similarly reigned as the UFC middleweight (185-pound) champion and UFC welterweight (170-pound) champion respectively from 2006 to 2013. One ought to note that GSP lost his title in 2007 but reclaimed it in 2008.
A special win for Michael @Bisping!
Five years ago the Count beat Anderson Silva in London 🙌
Watch the highlights 👇 https://t.co/1Xar9AAqdT
Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, pointed out that in 2010, ‘The Spider’ teased moving down to welterweight to fight St-Pierre. Bisping believes St-Pierre would’ve comfortably grappled his way to a decision win against a diminished version of Silva if they'd fought at welterweight in 2010.
Bisping then discussed Georges St-Pierre possibly facing the Brazilian MMA great at middleweight between 2015 and 2017. He feels that in the 2015-17 period, St-Pierre – who’d rehabbed old injuries and gained muscle mass during his MMA hiatus since 2013 – would’ve beaten Silva.
🏆🏆
On This Day in 2017, @GeorgesStPierre returned after four years out and beat Michael Bisping at #UFC217 to become middleweight champion.
His final UFC fight to date.. 🤔 https://t.co/utPdskzNNO
Nevertheless, he opined that Silva would’ve beaten St-Pierre in their primes, stating:
“In their primes, from 2009 to ’12, fighting at middleweight, I’ve gotta go with Anderson Silva. Now look, overall, I think it would have been an extremely close fight.”
He explained that Georges St-Pierre would’ve utilized a great strategy and implemented several takedowns. However, Anderson Silva’s KO power and creativity would’ve helped him defeat his Canadian foe. Bisping said:
“Georges would’ve come in for a takedown; he [GSP] would’ve walked into a knee, an elbow, a punch, a kick - something. And I do think Anderson Silva would’ve been victorious. There it is. In their primes, I think Anderson might’ve got the job done.”
Watch Bisping discuss the topic at 13:25 in the video below:
What’s next for Michael Bisping, Anderson Silva, and Georges St-Pierre?
Michael Bisping last fought Kelvin Gastelum in November 2017 and lost via first-round KO. Bisping announced his MMA retirement in 2018 and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2019. He currently works as a UFC commentator.
Meanwhile, Anderson Silva’s final UFC fight was a fourth-round TKO loss against Uriah Hall in October 2020. Silva parted ways with the UFC in November 2020 and has been competing in the sport of boxing.
Anderson Silva knocks out Tito Ortiz! @SpinninBackfist https://t.co/QJSPw1j5Ba
As for Georges St-Pierre, his last MMA fight came against Bisping in November 2017. GSP beat Bisping via third-round submission to win the UFC middleweight title, which he vacated soon after. St-Pierre announced his MMA retirement in 2019. He’s lately found tremendous success as an actor/model and entrepreneur.