UFC chairman: Silva vs. St-Pierre ‘a fight we’d like to make’

Anderson Silva’s manager said Wednesday that the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight champion of six years places a catch-weight showdown against welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre as his most attractive fight date.

“GSP is the biggest fight possible, the top one we want,” Silva manager Ed Soares said at the downtown Los Angeles J.W. Marriott, where Soares was watching another of his Brazilian fighters, Lyoto Machida, workout in prepartion for his light-heavyweight fight against Ryan Bader on Saturday at Staples Center.

St-Pierre, concluding his recovery from torn knee ligaments, is scheduled to defend his belt Nov. 17 against Carlos Condit in Montreal.

Should St-Pierre win, UFC Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta said in a text message to The Times, “We are very open to the idea of Anderson/GSP. If GSP beats Condit, it’s a fight we would like to make.”

Silva defended his belt for the second time against Chael Sonnen on July 7, recording a second-round technical knockout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas -- a fight Fertitta said exceeded one million pay-per-view buys.

After that bout, Silva wagged his finger no to the idea of fighting light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones -- a disappointing position to many who believe Silva has effectively cleaned out the middleweight division.

Soares scoffed at the notion of Silva fighting the skilled Chris Weidman, whose popularity is gaining traction, and was resistant to the suggestion of Jones.

“Why?” Soares asked reporters questioning the reluctance to fight Jones.

“Money,” one reporter responded.

“There’s money out there, there is an upside,” Soares said. “But neither guy wants the fight. At some point, maybe, but right now it’s not a fight that interests Anderson.”

St-Pierre has lost only once while ruling the welterweight division since 2006.

“It’d be a fight for the best pound-for-pound title,” Soares said.

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