Last night at UFC 183 in Las Vegas, former middleweight champion Anderson Silva made a successful return after more than a year off, earning a unanimous decision over rival Nick Diaz. The fight was tension filled, and saw it’s share of highlight reel action. Though Silva was brilliant in winning (50-45, 50-45, 49-46), Diaz deserves credit for standing in front of the Brazilian and not giving an inch.
As crazy as Diaz is and as hard as he is to deal with outside of the octagon, once the fight starts the guy is laser sharp. despite his mentality being in question after a long layoff from the gruesome leg injury suffered in late 2013. Diaz felt after the fight that he had “won every round”, which is not the case, but personally I’m not sure he lost every round either.
For Silva, he looked like his old self much of the time. He was never really hurt in the fight, and he did absorb a good bit of meaningful strikes. You rarely see a fighter take so many kicks to his leg over the course of five rounds without it slowing him down in the least bit. At times in the fight, both athletes threw flashy reverse kicks, and the difference in speed and precision was pretty clear. Now, Diaz may have been feinting on some of those kicks, but still for a 39 year old man, Silva is an athletic marvel. Silva gradually eased into using the left leg he had damaged so severely, and he was using it seemlessly by the end of the fight.
What is next for both men is up in the air. Silva stated in his post fight interview that he is getting pressured by his family to stop fighting, but then there is the 15-fight deal he recently signed and the statement by UFC President Dana White that would earn a title shot with a win over Diaz. Silva can do whatever he wants, and their is still the return of Georges St Pierre that would be oh so lucrative and oh so intriguing.
As good as Diaz was, he is still probably best suited for the welterweight division, but after three losses in a row it would be good to see him put together a plan for 3-5 fights instead of throwing himself into the hardest possible fight out there.
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