Nick Diaz’s decision to move up to the UFC middleweight division to take on one of the greatest fighters or all time in Anderson Silva may not have been a very wise decision, according to former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
St-Pierre knows a thing or two about Diaz (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) and Silva (33-6 MMA, 16-2 UFC). “Rush” was involved in a longstanding rivalry with Diaz prior to defeating him at UFC 158 in March 2013, and a bout with Silva was discussed for years but never came to fruition.
Diaz and Silva are now scheduled to face each other in a 185-pound affair in UFC 183’s pay-per-view headliner on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas.
The bout between the former UFC middleweight champion and ex-Strikeforce welterweight titleholder was merely fantasy years ago, but now it’s a reality, and St-Pierre thinks Diaz may be in over his head.
“I believe Diaz made a mistake by accepting that fight at 185; I think he should have made a catchweight,” St-Pierre said on the “You’re Welcome! With Chael Sonnen” podcast. “I would maybe favor Diaz if that fight was a catchweight. But it’s five rounds, and Diaz is very durable fighter. I’ve seen him in very bad positions, in a lot of trouble, and he’s very hard to finish. I don’t remember a guy who finished Nick Diaz. It’s very different because they’re fighting in Anderson Silva’s weight class.”
St-Pierre defeated Diaz by unanimous decision at UFC 158. He implemented a wrestling-heavy offense that prevented Diaz from getting into a rhythm with his striking. Silva presents an entirely different style, though. The Brazilian is among the most successful standup fighters in the sport’s history.
Diaz is more than capable of hanging with Silva on the feet, St-Pierre said. However, he said Diaz must keep the action in a boxing range and try to lure “The Spider” into a brawl. Silva, on the other hand, needs to be unpredictable and keep his opponent guessing, he said.
“I believe that Diaz is very good at boxing,” St-Pierre said. “A lot of his training is pure boxing. He’s probably the best pure boxer in mixed martial arts. If you made the fight a boxing fight, like a slugfest boxing fight, I believe he’s going to win. When I fought Diaz, I knew I couldn’t make a slugfest, boxing match. You need to be very versatile and very creative with Nick Diaz.”
After spending five rounds in the octagon with Diaz, St-Pierre has a much firmer grasp of his game compared to Silva, whom the Canadian has simply studied from a distance. St-Pierre can recall his in-cage experiences with Diaz, particularly the mid-fight trash talk the Stockton, Calif. native infamously produces.
“He said a lot of things,” St-Pierre said. “He’s a very smart fighter. The image and the character that he has, he’s very smart. My strategy when I fought him is to not fall into this because if I fell into it and got in a slugfest with him, it would have been his fight. I would have fought his fight, and he probably would have win. He’s the best at that kind of fight when it’s a scrappy slugfest. That’s the best for him.”
While St-Pierre feels size will play a major role for Silva, he’s not prepared to count out Diaz just yet. Diaz has fought above his usual weight of 170 pounds in the past, but never against someone of Silva’s caliber.
If Diaz can avoid an early knockout and pull the fight into the championship/extended rounds, St-Pierre said he expects an extremely intriguing affair at UFC 183.
“I believe in the early part of the fight, Silva will have an advantage,” St-Pierre said. “If Diaz can survive and weather the storm, he can come back strong in the last part of the fight like the fourth and fifth round. He’s a very durable fighter, and he brings it to the fight. When you fight him, he’s talking to you. He brings a different intensity than I’ve seen before. You feel claustrophobic and lose a lot of energy because he’s pushing forward. It’s very hard to fight a guy like him, especially in the later rounds.”
For more on UFC 183, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Nick Diaz)
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