Georges St-Pierre believes Anderson Silva 'took everybody by surprise' with the show he put on during his fight with Julio César Chávez Jr.
Silva, 45, surprised everyone with his spirited and energetic performance against César Chávez on June 19 in Guadalajara.
Nicknamed 'The Spider', Silva caught César Chávez unawares on several occasions and battled all the way to the final bell.
Speaking recently to Ariel Helwani on 'The MMA Hour', St-Pierre admitted to having his doubts prior to the bout, but was blown away by Silva's performance on the night.
The 40-year-old told MMA Fighting: “Bro, it was one of his best performances in life - I would say among the rest of his elite performances that he did in MMA.
“To me, the way he beat César Chávez, it was incredible. And I was under the impression before the fight that César Chávez would dominate him because of his boxing experience.
"Man, he took everybody by surprise. It was very inspiring to him perform that way. It was very, very inspiring.
“And what a great ending for Anderson Silva right now. I hope if he comes back into these kinds of fights, it will be something worth it.
"Not only about money, but in terms of legacy - something that, it will make him shine, make him look good.
"Because, man, if you check his last performance against Uriah Hall, it was kind of disappointing, it was kind of sad.
"But what a way to come back. What a way to get back on top. Man, that was amazing.”
The former UFC middleweight champion will face former light-heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz in the co-main event of Evander Holyfield's comeback fight against Vitor Belfort on Saturday night.
Ortiz spent the majority of his career competing in the weight class above at 205 pounds, but St-Pierre is nonetheless backing the 45-year-old to come away with the victory.
“I think it’s a good fight,” he added.
“It could be a good fight for Anderson Silva, because he’s more into his field of expertise [than Ortiz].”
While St-Pierre has repeatedly flirted with the idea of swapping the cage for the boxing ring, that remains only a distant possibility, as he is still contractually bound to the world's premier MMA promotion.
"I was contacted by Triller to do a novelty fight against Oscar De La Hoya at 170 pounds with big gloves," he explained.
"It would have been 14 or 12 oz gloves, 2 minute rounds, and I thought it would be a fun thing to do.
"My career has been to prove that I'm the strongest man in the world in the sport of mixed martial arts, and I'm 40 years old, but to do something different, something that could be fun and very motivating for me...
"Plus on top of that, a lot of money would have been given to charity, against a legend in his sport as Oscar De La Hoya, I think I would have done it.
"Not because I believe I'm a better boxer than Oscar De La Hoya was when he was in his prime but I do now believe he probably has more mileage than I do.
"I'm in great shape, I'm younger, I used to compete at a heavier weight class, I think it would have been a fair fight that the fans would have wanted to watch.
"Because I'm retired from the sport of mixed martial arts but I'm still under contract with the UFC, I needed to have the blessing of Dana White.
"I called Dana, I even called Lorenzo to try to convince Dana, Lorenzo liked the idea, but Dana did not want it."
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