There have been bigger mixed martial arts events before, but it's possible that no show has been more anticipated than Saturday's UFC 183. Not many shows can claim to feature the return of the greatest fighter in the history of the sport, Anderson Silva, against one of the most enigmatic stars in Nick Diaz.
As compelling a figure as Diaz is, especially since he's also returning after a nearly two-year layoff, all eyes will rightly be focused on Silva. Last time fans saw The Spider, he was being taken out of the Octagon after breaking his leg in horrific fashion against Chris Weidman.
That's not the image Silva wanted to leave the fans with, nor the way he wanted his career to end, so the 39-year-old will undoubtedly be more determined than ever to make a statement. There are no shortage of storylines for this main event, which will be touched on after looking at the entire fight card.
| UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | |
| Thiago Santos vs. Andy Enz | Middleweight | |
| Richardson Moreira vs. Ildemar Alcantara | Middleweight | |
| Diego Brandao vs. Jimy Hettes | Featherweight | |
| Fox Sports Prelims at 8 p.m. ET | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | |
| Rafael Natal vs. Tom Watson | Middleweight | |
| Ian McCall vs. John Lineker | Flyweight | |
| Derek Brunson vs. Ed Herman | Middleweight | |
| Miesha Tate vs. Sara McMann | Women's Bantamweight | |
| PPV Main Card at 10 p.m. ET | ||
| Matchup | Weight Class | |
| Jordan Mein vs. Thiago Alves | Welterweight | |
| Thales Leites vs. Tim Boetsch | Middleweight | |
| Joe Lauzon vs. Al Iaquinta | Lightweight | |
| Tyron Woodley vs. Kelvin Gastelum | Welterweight | |
| Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz | Middleweight |
Card from UFC.com,
Is Anderson Silva Going to Be Inhibited?
One of the first questions that must be asked when an athlete returns from injury, especially one as gruesome as Silva's, is how will they react mentally to being back where everything went down?
If you haven't seen the video from UFC 168, basically Silva went for a leg kick on Weidman when his tibia snapped the same way a pencil would when you bent it in middle school.
Silva has had to answer nearly constant questions about the leg for the last 12 months but said during a media conference call this week that he was done talking about it, via Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
"So, this is part of my life I won't talk to any more because my leg's good now," Silva said. "I train hard now and everything is newer. I don't talk any more on this because this is the past. Sorry."
In the same article, Silva is also quoted as saying that his big question after the injury was, "When will I fight again?" It's an important distinction since most outside observers were wondering, "Can he fight again?"
The good news is Silva certainly sounds like he has no reservations about stepping back into the cage. He can't afford to be impaired mentally because this is a crucial moment for the former UFC middleweight champion, as noted by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports:
Diaz is going to be there in the latter rounds. He has proven that. He absorbed a ton of early punishment from St-Pierre, who had him in all sorts of difficult positions, but couldn't finish him.
It's not unreasonable to wonder if Silva's timing might be off as well, given the long layoff. Though Silva has been training for months, this is his first fight since the injury and the mind can play tricks on anyone, even a sport's all-time great.
Silva is coming off consecutive losses for the first time in his career, though both came against the same opponent, and there were extenuating circumstances around the second defeat. He turns 40 on April 14, around the same age as Chuck Liddell when his career ended with a knockout loss against Rich Franklin.
It's no secret that Silva is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but given how easy he's made things look in the past, this fight could be a launching point for the greatest of all time to go out in a blaze of glory.
The Unpredictable Nick Diaz
No fighter has a more love-hate relationship with his sport than Diaz with mixed martial arts. The 31-year-old is immensely talented, winning welterweight titles in Strikeforce and WEC, but there's an unstable quality to his personality that's hard to work with.
Diaz had an inauspicious start to his UFC career in 2011, losing a welterweight title shot against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137 after not taking part in media sessions leading up to the event. He defeated B.J. Penn on that show, then lost his next two fights against Carlos Condit and St-Pierre.
In May 2012, Diaz was retroactively suspended for 12 months dating back to February after failing a drug test for marijuana. His return fight was the loss to St-Pierre in March 2013, but since that time he hasn't done anything.
That makes 22 months since Diaz's last fight with his return coming against Silva. It certainly adds another compelling dynamic to the bout, as neither fighter figures to be at the top of their game coming off long layoffs.
Even Diaz's quotes leading up to the fight show how enigmatic a character he is, like this one via UFC Store on Twitter:
"I'm there. I'm ready to fight." @nickdiaz209 #UFC183 http://t.co/4X91o19oOI pic.twitter.com/mKwV4AFaFM
— UFC Store (@ufcstore) January 29, 2015
Joe Schilling, who competes in Bellator and has been training Diaz, told Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie that Silva is going to get a different opponent than the one he's expecting:
It’s a different Nick Diaz now. He’s definitely a little bit bigger, he hits a lot harder than I remember him hitting me back then. Anderson can win this fight if he catches Nick with something he doesn’t see. But in this training camp he’s been with the three best kickboxers available, and I don’t think he’s going to be surprised by anything.
The weight is another aspect of the fight that shouldn't be overlooked. Diaz is moving up to 185 pounds for the first time in his career. He's spent most of his fighting days at 170 pounds, with the exception of a 2007 bout against KJ Noons at 155 pounds.
Diaz is going into Silva's territory for this fight, meaning he has to make the adjustment to his opponent's power. The controversial star does have a boxing background that has allowed him to develop good strength in his punches, but adding weight can take away speed and quickness when moving.
Silva has made a career of picking on fighters who try to trade punches with him. Diaz has the tools in his arsenal to fight however he likes, but a punching match wouldn't be the best way to approach this particular bout.
Prediction
Even though it seems like both fighters have too much to gain in this fight, making it too close to call, Silva feels like he has the advantage in every aspect. Unless Diaz decides to get back to his wrestling roots, which is something he hasn't shown a lot of in recent years, it will be hard to defeat Silva.
Despite the age and layoff for Silva, he seems like the kind of fighter who will go into his twilight gracefully because he doesn't absorb a lot of hits and is such a chameleon in the Octagon that he can beat anyone in a variety of ways.
In a fight between two hard-to-predict stars, take the one who has proved himself to rise up in the darkest moments. Silva's return will be a successful one.
Silva wins via Unanimous Decision
