UFC legend Michael Bisping believes Anderson Silva would’ve beaten Georges St-Pierre if they fought in their prime.

It’s one of the most talked about match-ups in mixed martial arts history: Anderson Silva vs Georges St-Pierre. This was the definition of a dream superfight between two men that are still considered to be frontrunners in the ‘greatest of all time’ conversation. ‘The Spider’ is the middleweight GOAT and GSP, at least for the time being, holds that distinction at welterweight.

Dana White was eager to get this fight booked on many occasions during their respective primes but for one reason or another, they were never able to get over the finish line and set it in stone.

Nobody can know for sure what would’ve gone down had they been given the opportunity to duke it out, but in some ways, it’s fun to sit back and picture just how many scenarios could’ve wound up happening.

Michael Bisping was recently given the task of delving into this mystery and after giving it some thought, he went with the Brazilian as his own favourite to pick up the win.

“In their primes, from 2009 to ’12, fighting at middleweight, I’ve gotta go with Anderson Silva. Now look, overall, I think it would have been an extremely close fight.”

“Georges would’ve come in for a takedown; he [GSP] would’ve walked into a knee, an elbow, a punch, a kick - something. And I do think Anderson Silva would’ve been victorious. There it is. In their primes, I think Anderson might’ve got the job done.”

The Bisping experience

Unlike 99.9% of fighters who have competed at 170 and 185, Michael Bisping is able to say that he fought both Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre in his MMA career.

He first got the chance to tussle with Anderson at UFC London in 2016 after years of calling for the bout. In one of the most dramatic contests of the year, Bisping got his hand raised with a unanimous decision win that eventually set him on the path to winning the UFC middleweight championship.

Then, around 20 months later at Madison Square Garden, he lost the belt when he was submitted by the great GSP in what would prove to be the penultimate fight of the Brit’s run.