It was the bone snap heard round the world. When Anderson Silva lashed out at Chris Weidman with a low roundhouse kick shortly before the end of their Dec. 28, 2013, middleweight championship match at UFC 168, Weidman used his shin to check Silva and stop his leg. Silva’s foot kept going, however, and both his tibia and fibula broke, much to the stunned surprise of the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. It was a potentially career-ending injury, but a little more than a year later the Brazilian fighter is back, squaring off against Nick Diaz at UFC 183.
Silva, “ubiquitously regarded as the best of all time,” according to his introduction at a UFC press conference at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in November, was training again by June. Although he didn’t go into details about his injury, his rehabilitation or any changes to his fighting strategy, Silva did reveal that he was excited to be back, primarily because he gained the support of his concerned family after convincing them fighting was his life.
UFC President Dana White has called Silva “the greatest mixed martial artist ever. Ever, period,” and in a Jan. 7 interview told Fox Sports that Silva will get a title shot with the winner of the match between current middleweight champion Weidman and Vitor Belfort at UFC 184. At the same time he was realistic about Silva’s status. “After the injury that Anderson Silva had, where is he going to be mentally?” wondered White. “I think physically he’s a guy who does the right things, works hard. He’s been working since the injury happened. He’s definitely going to be in shape. Will he throw the leg kicks the way he used to throw them? How is he going to feel when he gets back into competition?”
Silva could avoid throwing kicks altogether if he batters Diaz with a series of knee strikes, as he did when defending the middleweight championship against Rich Franklin at UFC 77. Diaz has not fought since losing a decision to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158 on March 13, 2013, but the triathlon-training enthusiast said having time away from fighting was a good experience for him. Silva has the edge on Diaz in terms of weight, height and reach, and tends to land his strikes; Diaz maintains a barrage of strike attempts but is selective about when to hit his targets hard.
The two fighters haven’t displayed inherent animosity toward each other, with Diaz even clarifying a remark about Silva. (“I said, ‘Maybe he should fire his coach,’ is all. I didn’t mean to sound too rude.”) But now, with a chance to prove himself against Weidman in a second rematch (Weidman beat Silva for the middleweight title at UFC 162) or take on previous opponent Belfort, Silva has motivation beyond victory and redemption. For Diaz, it’s a chance to defeat a living legend still considered by many to be the greatest pound-for-pound MMA fighter of all time.
MGM Grand, 3:30 p.m. Jan. 31, starting at $250 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
