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2008-06-23 19:04:01
Georges St. Pierre Moving Up to Middleweight?
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According to an interview with Roger "El Matador" Huerta on MMARated.com, Georges St. Pierre is strongly considering a move up to Middleweight. Huerta, who says that he and St. Pierre are "very close", would then jump up to Welterweight from Lightweight, as he would never want to have to face off against "Rush" in a match.
Now, there are two questions that need to be answered. Would Dana White actually allow St. Pierre to jump to Middleweight, and how would he fare if he did make the jump?
St. Pierre may be emboldened by the fact that Anderson "Spider" Silva is making the jump (at least temporarily) to light heavyweight. He may think that since Dana let Silva jump, then he might let St. Pierre jump up a weight class as well.
You need to remember though, that Silva has successfully defended his title a number of times now, and has "cleaned out" the middleweight division. Aside from maybe one person (Okami), there is nobody left for Silva to fight at middleweight. Silva has also publicly stated that he would love to fight 5-6 times per year. Combine that with the fact that Silva is still pissed about not being able to fight Roy Jones Jr., and you have a much-more accommodating Dana White.
On the other hand, St. Pierre only just recently regained the Welterweight title. Dana White will want to see "Rush" successfully defend at least 3-4 times (and in convincing fashion) before letting St. Pierre jump to Middleweight. This might include a fight against B.J. Penn, who has made noises about wanting to fight St. Pierre.
The other thing to consider is - St. Pierre would likely be jumping to middleweight in large part because he wants to have a "super" fight against Silva. However, Silva is currently in the process of transitioning to light heavyweight. I'm not sure how feasible it is for Silva to jump to light heavyweight to focus on the likes of Liddell, "Rampage" and Wanderlei Silva, only to jump back down to middleweight to take on St. Pierre.
The second question - how would St. Pierre fare at Middleweight? He is obviously a tremendously gifted fighter who would fare extremely well in almost any division. Assuming that Silva was no longer in the division, then I could definitely see St. Pierre as the Middleweight champion. If the two actually fought? I still say that Silva is the better fighter and would win any match-up between the two.
In the end, I suspect that Dana White will "convince" St. Pierre to stay at Welterweight for now. I think that there are plans for a St. Pierre / B.J. Penn fight down the road, but the odds of a St. Pierre / Silva fight seem even less likely to me now. Silva has his eyes firmly set on the light heavyweights of the world, and Dana White will likely want to see St. Pierre successfully defend a number of times before even entertaining the idea of letting him jump to Middleweight.
Source: MMARated.com
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