Is Anderson Silva Vs. Nick Diaz Just What The Doctor Ordered For The UFC?
Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will finally make his long awaited to the UFC next January, as we recently learned that he will face former Strikeforce welterweight champion and notorious controversialist Nick Diaz. The Stockton bad boy resigned to the UFC on a three-fight deal this week, and instantly the talk turned to Diaz vs. Silva.
Obviously the fight has some very interesting factors; styles seem to match up well, both fighters like to keep it standing, and maybe most importantly for the promotion, it is a huge fight to look forward to. Some may even class this as a ‘non-title super-fight’, should such a thing exist. In fact, with the way things have been going recently for the UFC, this bout probably couldn’t have come at a better time.
Cast your minds back to UFC 162, when ‘The Spider’ was sensationally knocked out by Chris Weidman. The whole landscape of the division changed, but the spectacular upset was merely a small ripple in a pond riddled with injuries and absent champions that would soon cascade upon the promotion. The follow-up fight between Silva and Weidman at UFC 168 would leave ‘The Spider’ literally broken and out of action for all of 2014.
Benson Henderson lost his lightweight title to the highly touted Anthony Pettis at UFC 164, only for ‘Showtime’ to go on the DL with yet another knee injury. Pettis remains absent until late 2014.
Added to the growing list was heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez who required shoulder surgery after rag dolling Junior dos Santos at UFC 166. The Mexican heavyweight boss will return this year, but after a 13-month sit and against Fabricio Werdum.
Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre stepped away from the sport, leaving an obvious space in the promotion’s bi-annual Canadian pay-per-view (PPV) slot. The poster boys of middleweight, lightweight, welterweight and heavyweight were all out indefinitely, and things were looking pretty dire for us as fans.
Dana White would tell you that all was well, but it’s hard to say that recent dips in PPV sales and ratings have been a simple coincidence.
Back to the point, Silva vs. Diaz is the single biggest fight to be announced this year, and will undoubtedly remain so unless GSP announces his comeback very soon. The fight is a no-brainer for the marketing department at Zuffa, and will essentially sell itself. The former middleweight kingpin returns against the heel of the promotion? I can see the posters now.
As bad as Diaz’s attitude can be sometimes, you can’t ignore the fact that he is helping the UFC when they need it most. A lack of stars is damaging to any entertainment company, and especially one that announced it’s plans for global expansion on the eve of the most gruesome year-ending show possible (UFC 168). Nearly 13 months after all the trouble began, it seems the pieces are falling back in to place.
Legitimate PPV stars and cards, returning champions, a Diaz brother with a new contract, and a huge fight with Anderson Silva. Pettis will hopefully be back, Velasquez returns, and maybe by then we will have more insight in to the potential comeback of ‘Rush’. That old feeling of genuinely being hyped for cards is starting to come back in tides for me. Do you feel the same way?
