After a devastating leg break in his last fight, former middleweight champion Anderson Silva is returning to the octagon once more – this time to take on Nick Diaz in a fight between two legends on Super Bowl weekend.
“The greatest of all time Anderson Silva is back,” UFC president Dana White said in Tuesday’s announcement of the Jan. 31 fight in Las Vegas. “It will be the main event, and it will be five rounds.”
Many would argue the super-fight moniker could be a bit of a misnomer, given that both guys are coming off of pretty bad losses and neither is a current UFC champion. Silva, 39, fractured two bones in his leg attempting a kick against Chris Weidman at UFC 168 in December, leading to a TKO. Diaz, 30, has not fought since losing to Georges St-Pierre in March 2013.
The UFC’s history of super-fights dates back to 1995, when Ken Shamrock fought Royce Gracie to a draw at UFC 5.
Fights like Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture, when Couture first came out of retirement to take on the heavyweight champion; Silva vs. Forrest Griffin, when people wanted to see what “The Spider” could do at light heavyweight; welterweight champ St-Pierre taking on then-lightweight champ BJ Penn…
A Silva-Diaz matchup stacks up with those super-fights. There are a number of reasons why:
For one, both fighters are former champions (Diaz held and defended the welterweight strap in Strikeforce), fighting each other at a weight class Diaz rarely fights in anymore. Diaz is a welterweight and Silva hasn’t fought below 185 pounds in almost 10 years.
Though Diaz has fought at 185 pounds in the past, he wouldn’t come out of retirement for a fight that wasn’t a super-fight to him.
Both guys are known for their striking, taunting and in-ring antics. Diaz dropping his hands daring Silva to hit him, Silva dodging punches like something out of “The Matrix.” White bills this as a super-fight under the assumption that this fight will be entertaining and electric – an affair sure to dazzle.