GSP Chooses Weidman over Silva at UFC 162: True Prediction or Wishful Thinking?

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has a prediction for the UFC 162 main event—and it's probably going to turn some heads. 

“My friend Chris Weidman, when I see him in training, I believe he’s going to beat Anderson Silva,” GSP told Sportsnet. “I believe it’s a bad matchup for Anderson Silva. It’s very bad."

The champion went on to explain that he not only believes in his training partner's ability to win the fight, but that he doesn't really think it's even going to be a very close fight.

“Not only is he going to beat, I believe he’s going to finish Anderson Silva,” St-Pierre said. “I believe it’s not going to be too long, that fight. People will be shocked.”

A champion in his own right, St-Pierre certainly knows a good thing when he sees it. But is his assertion that the longtime pound-for-pound king of the sport gets finished an actual prediction or is it more of a case of wishful thinking?

Weidman has never been beaten in his MMA career and at 9-0 certainly presents a combination of skills that could cause problems for "The Spider." But we've heard this all before. Many, many times before.

There's a reason that Anderson Silva is considered the greatest MMA fighter on the planet today and that most would agree he is the best to ever compete in the sport. Just when everyone seems to think he has a weakness, he comes out with an emphatic, crushing victory over the top contender who is supposed to give him the biggest challenge of his career.

Silva is nearing the seven-year mark as an unbeaten fighter. And it has been over eight years since something that one of his opponents did actually ended in Silva losing. 

So GSP can't actually believe that this is going to be such an easy fight for Weidman, can he?

Perhaps St-Pierre is just hoping that someone will finally knock Silva off the top of the mountain. After all, Silva losing would likely push St-Pierre up to the No. 2 or even No. 1 ranking on the Official UFC Pound-for-Pound list. 

Not only that, but similar to Manny Pacquiao's loss in the boxing ring in 2012, an Anderson Silva loss would finally put to rest any discussion of a "superfight" with Anderson Silva. 

For St-Pierre, that weight being lifted off of his shoulders would be a massive relief. Certainly no one would expect him to move up to 185 to fight anyone else, so GSP could simply continue to focus on dominating at 170 without fear of persecution from unruly MMA fans.

And hey, it's hard to blame him if he's really hoping for a Silva loss. It's good to be king.