UFC boss: GSP doesn't want superfight vs. Silva

Matt Erickson and John Morgan | USA TODAY Sports

Dana White still would love to put one of those coveted superfights together. But for one of them, he may be past the point of believing it'll ever happen.

The UFC president consistently has been badgered for several years about putting together a fight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC) and middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC). And more recently, there have been calls for a fight between Silva and light heavyweight champ Jon Jones (18-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC).

But White isn't sure a GSP-Silva fight will happen — because it's not a fight St-Pierre wants. Silva on Saturday defends his title against Chris Weidman at UFC 162 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

"There's no doubt about it — that's a fact (that St-Pierre doesn't want the fight)," White told MMAjunkie.com on Thursday following the pre-event news conference for UFC 162. "If that was the case, he'd say, '(Expletive) Weidman. I'll take that fight. I really think Weidman's going to beat him, but I don't want Weidman to beat him. I want to be the guy to beat him.' "

St-Pierre, though, apparently doesn't believe Silva will beat Weidman. So instead of holding off to see if Silva gets another win, then trying to put a superfight together, St-Pierre focused his next effort on top welterweight contender Johny Hendricks. The two are expected to meet at UFC 167 in November in Las Vegas.

"I've been working hard to try to make those fights," White said. "Georges St-Pierre would not even think about this fight because Anderson Silva's going to (lose), according to Georges St-Pierre."

Silva will attempt to extend his UFC record for not only consecutive wins, but consecutive successful title defenses when he takes on Weidman.

St-Pierre took a unanimous decision from Nick Diaz in March in front of his home fans in Montreal. The Canadian has won 11 straight fights with eight consecutive title defenses.

Silva widely is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. And depending on the rankings, St-Pierre is considered No. 2 or No. 3, flip-flopping with Jones. Silva is No. 1, Jones No. 2 and St-Pierre No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com pound-for-pound rankings.

And that's why White is unsure why St-Pierre wouldn't want to make the fight happen, even at a catch-weight, to prove who's the best.

"At the end of the day, he weighs 170 pounds," White said. "Any guy who's going to fight up in weight — '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 a lot of fans want to see, it's a big fight. It's a legacy fight, and it's a fight for the pound-for-pound best in the world.

"Georges St-Pierre could do this catch-weight fight and he could still be the champ at 170. But what's crazy to me is, GSP opted to take a very dangerous fight (against Hendricks) at 170 without trying to take a dangerous fight at 185."

Matt Erickson and John Morgan write for MMAjunkie.com, a USA TODAY Sports Media Group affiliate.