UFC Boss Eying Classic Battle Between St-Pierre and Silva

There’s talk of another super-fight brewing in the world of mixed martial arts. Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said on Tuesday that if Georges St-Pierre can defeat interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit in an upcoming bout at UFC 154 in Montreal Nov. 17, he would attempt to set up a match between the Canadian legend and middleweight champion Anderson “Spider” Silva at a later date.

Speaking on the “UFC Tonight” TV show, White said the match is “pretty close” to being made, and if it happens it would take place near Dallas at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The venue seats 80,000 people; the current North American attendance record was set at UFC 129 at Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 30, 2011, where 55,724 people saw St-Pierre successfully defend his welterweight title against Jake Shields.

Both St-Pierre and Silva are widely acknowledged to be the two best pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world. Silva recently made short work of Chael Sonnen in a second-round TKO in July. St-Pierre has been recovering from a knee injury and is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. In fact, St-Pierre declared via Twitter that he is “medically cleared to compete” which should make fans of the sport very happy. In fact, he is already begun a full training camp to prepare for November.

Of course, no contracts have been signed yet, and White also has to prove he can put this one together. His promotion had had a major reversal as UFC 151, set for Las Vegas Sept. 1, was cancelled on Aug. 23 after Dan Henderson had to pull out after partially tearing a knee ligament less than two weeks before the event. White first pursued Lyoto Machida to to take Henderson’s place in the main event, then apparently had an agreement with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before Jon “Bones” Jones declined to participate. That rejection sparked a fiery outburst from White; Jones maintains he has no regrets about refusing the short-notice change, calling it “a really smart personal career decision.”

Cancellation of UFC 151 has changed the rankings in the sport and has sparked a debate about fighters from different weight classifications being matched against each other directly. Ultimately, though, it is the fans (and the promoters) who decide which fights are arranged and touted. It’s probably safe to say that it doesn’t really even matter what happens in Montreal: every person who calls themselves an MMA fan wants to see Georges St-Pierre take on Anderson Silva in the octagon.