Anderson Silva Breaks into the Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn Argument

For the past few weeks, I looked at the UFC 112 card and figured that the main storyline would involve BJ Penn sticking it to Georges St. Pierre.

St. Pierre's performance against Dan Hardy didn't please a lot of fans, and so if Penn was able to dispose of Frank Edgar in a more dramatic fashion, the balance of public opinion might once again sway in his favor.

Penn would be able to say, among other things, "See? I'm the one who is finishing fights."

The St. Pierre vs. Penn argument that has been going on since 2006 is of course the argument that never dies, so it wouldn't end with a thrashing of Edgar by Penn, but it would most certainly put the heat back underneath St. Pierre's feet.

The forums would once again be set ablaze, and many Sherdog accounts would be sacrificed for the noble cause.

Yet lo and behold, things didn't go according to my script, as Anderson Silva has just announced himself as a potential threat to St. Pierre's welterweight title.

Over the past few years, Silva has stood above the fray and above the battle between St. Pierre and Penn. It's been okay to be a huge St. Pierre fan and a huge Silva fan at the same time, but that might change soon, as new battle lines are drawn.

If Silva decides to go down to 170 pounds, the debate over St. Pierre's refusal to fight at higher weight classes will need to be put aside for a while so we can focus on the fight at hand.

A Silva vs. St. Pierre fight would essentially be for all the marbles, and has the potential to galvanize the entire sport. The relevance of this fight cannot be overstated.

However, in terms of the smaller pound-for-pound issues...

If St. Pierre wins, he'll silence his critics.

If Silva wins, the more petty of Penn fans may celebrate, but the true victor can be none other than Silva, at least for the moment.

Of course, like anything in MMA, it is all contingent upon everything else.

If Silva loses to Demian Maia, his priorities will change, and if Penn looks less than impressive against Edgar, then the more petty of St. Pierre fans may have their own little party.

In any case, I'm excited about this new wrinkle in the pound-for-pound debate, and hope that Silva decides to move down in weight, because it would be a refreshing change from the usual St. Pierre vs. Penn arguments that have become rather tiresome and predictable.

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