Den 31 januari kommer Anderson Silva att göra sin comeback, då han tar sig an ingen mindre än Nick Diaz i mellanvikt vid UFC 183 i Las Vegas. Föredetta welterviktsmästaren Georges St-Peirre tror dock att Nick begått ett misstag när han accepterade att matchen skulle äga rum i mellanvikt, men han dömer inte ut Diaz helt.
Detta hade Georges att säga om mötet, via Chael Sonnens podcast:
To tell you the truth, I would maybe favor Diaz if the fight had been at a catchweight. Because if it is a five-round, Diaz is a very durable fighter. I have seen him in a lot of trouble and he is very, very hard to finish. Now it is different because it is in Anderson Silva’s weight class. Which I believe Diaz made a mistake at accepting that fight at 185 instead of, I think he should have made a catchweight would have been more fair.
I believe that in the early part of the fight that Silva will have an advantage. But if Diaz can survive will weather the storm, I believe he can come back strong at the end, the last part of the fight, maybe the fourth and fifth round. He’s a very durable fighter and he brings to the fight, when you fight, he’s talking to you, and he brings a different intensity that I’ve never seen seen before. And I felt like a little bit, you feel claustrophobic a little bit because he’s constantly pushing you forward and it’s very hard to fight a guy like him. Especially in the later rounds.
He’s a very, very smart fighter. He says, his image and the character that he is, he’s very smart. My game plan when I fought him was to not fall into this because it was important. If I fell into it and get into a slugfest with him, it would have been his fight. I would have fought his fight and he probably would win. You know, he’s a scrapper, slugfest, that’s when he’s at his best.
St-Pierre mötte Diaz vid UFC 158, en match som Georges tog hem via ett enhälligt domslut.