Georges St-Pierre: Anderson Silva ‘Still The Best In The World’

Georges St-Pierre may not want to fight Anderson Silva, but the Canadian brawler believes that the now-former middleweight champion is “still the best in the world.”

At 1:18 in the second round, 29-year-old Chris Weidman caught “the Spider” with a left hook and finished him off with a flurry of strikes, ending Silva’s seven-year reign.

The loss was Silva’s first since January 20, 2006, when he was disqualified from a match against Yushin Okami for an illegal upkick at Rumble on the Rock 8. 

GSP, who has been the welterweight champion since April 2008, said he predicted that Weidman would win, but didn’t think he would pull off the victory the way he did.

“I thought he was going to win on the ground with ground and pound or maybe some submission, and he won with a beautiful knockout standing up,” St-Pierre said.

After he won the championship, Weidman was ranked the #1 middleweight in the world, while Silva dropped to #2.

“I think Silva got caught. I think Silva is still the best in the world, but he just got caught,” said the 32-year-old welterweight champ.

“You always recognize a great champion by how they come back from a loss. I know that Anderson has come back from a loss before, from adversity in his fight, and he’s the greatest of all time for sure,” he added.

Still, UFC president Dana White said St-Pierre has no interest in a superfight against Silva because it would require him to move up a weight class.

“At the end of the day he weighs 170 pounds. He’s a 170-pounder. If he weighed 185 pounds and felt that way I’d be real p****d,” White said during the UFC 162 pre-fight press conference last Thursday. “I’m the man here at 170. If I thought I was the man at 185 I’d be at 185. I get it, but it’s a fight that a lot of fans want to see. It’s a big fight. It’s a legacy fight. It’s a fight for the pound-for-pound best in the world.”

White has also talked about a possible rematch between Silva and Weidman, but said it most likely won’t happen this year.

If the two do face off in the Octagon again, GSP already knows who he’s betting his money on.

“I believe he [Weidman] can win a rematch again,” he said.

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[Photo credit: Pixeloflight / Flickr]