Sounds like someone on Anderson Silva's staff has been taking notes from Cris Cyborg's doctor.
That's because the reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight titleholder, who's also 2-0 as a ZUFFA light heavyweight, has been advised not to attempt a weight cut to 170 pounds in an effort to procure a potential "super fight" against welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre -- even if it was his idea to begin with.
Silva's physical conditioning coach talks to Fighters Only:
"It would be a crime for Anderson to try and fight at 77kg. He could maybe make the weight but the physical loss that he would suffer would be too much. We have to respect St. Pierre, who besides being a great fighter is a monster physically. The Canadian would get a considerable conditioning advantage if they fought at welterweight division limits. For me this fight should happen at 80kg, since that would already be a sacrifice for Anderson. It would be his first shot at this weight and we would have to implement a very specific work for him to be able to perform at 100% of his capacity."
What a coincidence! St. Pierre also claims he'll have a distinct physical disadvantage.
"Rush" returned to action earlier this month, following a grueling 18 months on the sidelines with a bum knee, to secure a five round unanimous decision win over Carlos Condit at UFC 154 while unifying the division titles.
So far, so good.
At the time, it seemed like the final hurdle before a 2013 "Spider" fight; however, finding an agreeable weight -- if one exists -- could prove to be the real obstacle.