Anderson Silva Open To Nick Diaz Rematch
Back in 2015, one of the most interesting match-ups in UFC history took place. Longtime welterweight Nick Diaz jumped up to 185 pounds to take on former division champion Anderson Silva. The pair headlined UFC 183 and fought all five rounds. Initially, the victory went to Silva via unanimous decision. It was his first fight back after his horrific leg injury against Chris Weidman. However, after the fight, both Diaz and Silva ran into issues with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
As a result, the result of their fight has been ruled a No Contest. Because of that, perhaps a rematch should be considered? Silva addressed this during an interview with Rap 77, Silva said he’d be interested in running things back with the Stockton native:
“I think the fight with Nick Diaz would be a very cool fight, very interesting,” Silva said. “Because our last fight, both of us ended up getting caught in the doping, and it was a no-contest. So, actually, the fight didn’t exist. But I think Nick is a guy who has a name, a guy who has a history in this sport.
“And what we can’t accept is going into the UFC’s game of wanting to use the legends that they have to promote the young guys. I’ve talked about this a lot with Nick and with other athletes, as well. We don’t have an issue with fighting any of these kids, we don’t have an issue. We just want to be respected for everything we have built in this sport.
“Never, in my early trajectory, I never called out anyone. I always let things happen naturally. And I think it can’t be different. The UFC has this thing of wanting to promote new talents that don’t have the charisma with the older athletes who have the charisma and who knew how to get the machine working when we were in there.
“And that’s something that today’s kids can’t do. They go up there, they fight, do good fights. But, once they open their mouths, they only say crap. And they can’t get charisma with the audience. It’s no use being a good fighter and not being charismatic.”
