To listen to Anderson Silva's manager, UFC fans shouldn't plan on seeing the pound-for-pound kingpin back in the Octagon anytime soon.
Jorge Guimaraes, who shares managing duties for the UFC Middleweight Champion with the better-known manager/translator Ed Soares, told Brazilian fighting website Tatame.com, "No opponent makes sense for Anderson at this moment, unless we do a catchweight against Georges St-Pierre. Anderson has the biggest paycheck in the UFC right now, and you can't promote an event with these amateur kids that are coming up now."
The "amateur kids" Guimaraes is referring to are Chris Weidman, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher, arguably the three hottest middleweights in the UFC with the exception of Silva himself. Weidman made a major statement earlier this month with his win over former NCAA wrestling champion and Silva training partner Mark Munoz, while Boetsch stopped the 25-fight unbeaten streak of Hector Lombard last weekend at UFC 149. Belcher already has his next opponent lined up - he'll fight Vitor Belfort in October at UFC 153 - but he's riding a four-fight win streak that includes a win over submission specialist Rousimar Palhares.
Certainly, after Silva's last four fights - two with Chael Sonnen, plus wins over Belfort and Yushin Okami - names like Weidman and Boetsch don't exactly stand up next to Silva on a fight poster, but if Silva expects to hold out for St-Pierre, he's probably barking up the wrong tree.
The first problem with the idea of booking St-Pierre vs. Silva at this point is that St-Pierre has all he can handle on his plate in the welterweight division. The UFC Welterweight Champion is tentatively scheduled to meet interim titleholder Carlos Condit in November at UFC 154 in Montreal, and the winner of that bout can expect a challenge from either Martin Kampann or Johny Hendricks. And that doesn't even include the possibility of a challenge from Nick Diaz, who's scheduled to make an announcement about his career on Friday. Simply put, if Anderson Silva wants to sit around and wait for Georges St-Pierre, then he's going to be waiting for a long time.
Besides, it's not the job of Anderson Silva or anyone in his management camp to determine who's fit to fight "The Spider" for the title. That's the job of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. Anderson Silva's job is to fight the opponents that Joe Silva and Dana White deem worthy. If the name isn't big enough, then the attraction of seeing a master like "The Spider" at work in the Octagon will have to be the attraction. That's how it worked with Patrick Côté, Travis Lutter, and Thales Leites. At some point, there will be a new top contender, and Silva will fight him. End of story.
In the end, Guimaraes might not speak for the champion anyway. It wouldn't be the first time that Silva's management made a comment that the champion disagreed with. However, no matter what Silva thinks of his manager's comments, one person who certainly doesn't care what Guimaraes thinks is Dana White, and that will make the difference.
