Why Fans Want Weidman and Hendricks to Beat Silva and GSP

Upsets in pivotal fights in the UFC can undeniably exhilarate drones of fans—particularly those who revel in the possibility of watching stars like Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre fail.

Many of these fans harbor jealousy, contention and, in some cases, hatred toward the UFC's most dominant and prolific kingpins.

In plenty of instances, however, fans simply grow tired of what they perceive as monotony in watching a particular fighter defend a UFC belt for years on end, regardless of how much entertainment that fighter generates.

This push for a proverbial changing of the guard will surely be on display in the two cases of Silva vs. Chris Weidman at UFC 162 and Johny Hendricks vs. St-Pierre at a venue to be announced.

Silva has been deemed a 3.05-to-1 favorite (-305), according to Bovada.com. St-Pierre, on the contrary, has been tabbed a 2.25-to-1 favorite (-225), according to Sportsbook.com.

But in the case that Weidman and Hendricks each pull off upsets, how much would it change the UFC's infrastructure? More specifically, will their wins give each division a shot in the arm while temporarily eliminating the idea of superfights between guys like Silva and Jon Jones or Silva and St-Pierre?

The soon-to-be 38-year-old Silva has defended the middleweight belt a UFC-record 10 consecutive times while the 31-year-old St-Pierre, who's already defended the welterweight strap a divisional-record eight straight times, appears poised to shatter all of The Spider's records.

Assuming that Silva and St-Pierre each follow through with the oddsmakers' predictions and dispose of Weidman and Hendricks, then how many fresh title matches will remain at 170 and 185?

Silva has already trumped the UFC's No. 2- and No. 3-ranked middleweights, Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, respectively.

St-Pierre, meanwhile, already holds wins over three of the UFC's top-ranked 170-pounders. "GSP" also remains adamant that fighting the UFC's third-ranked welterweight and Tristar Gym teammate Rory MacDonald is out of the question.

Hendricks has beaten a trio of top-10 welterweights, including second-ranked Carlos Condit and seventh-ranked Martin Kampmann. But Weidman, on the other hand, has topped just one UFC-ranked middleweight, seventh-ranked Mark Munoz.

Since fans constantly yearn to witness change and drama in every division, there's no doubt that the bulk of the MMA world will be pulling for Weidman and Hendricks to dethrone Silva and St-Pierre.

The problem for "The All-American" and "Bigg Rigg" is that Silva and St-Pierre don't intend to allow any change or drama to ensue in their respective weight classes. Truth be told, The Spider and GSP plan to keep business running as usual until they each decide to retire on top.