It remains unclear whether Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz will ever return to the UFC, but if or when they do it’s possible they could fight one another.
Diaz insists he is retired from mixed martial arts, but he has said in the past that he would be interested in a title shot against Johny Hendricks, a rematch with Georges St-Pierre or a fight with Anderson Silva, who is currently on the mend from the gruesome broken leg he suffered against Chris Weidman at UFC 168 this past December.
Silva’s manager, Ed Soares told The MMA Hour Monday that Silva will be back and listed Diaz as one potential opponent for the former longtime middleweight champion.
“There’s Michael Bisping, there’s Cung Le. Even Nick Diaz,” Soares said. “Nick Diaz has said he’s wanted to fight him before. Nick Diaz wanted to box Roy Jones Jr. You could argue that Nick Diaz and Anderson probably have some of the best boxing in MMA, so we’ll see what happens.
“Like we all know, so many things can change, the landscape of the sport can change so much in such a short amount of time. There’s not a shortage of talent that the UFC has, so I’m sure the UFC is going to come up with a good plan on who the next opponent should be, and I’m sure it will be a good fight.”
Silva, 39, underwent successful surgery immediately after breaking his leg; he had an intramedullary rod inserted into his left tibia and his broken fibula was stabilized. Silva initially wanted to return before the end of 2014, and while Soares said there’s still a slim chance that happens, the Brazilian superstar will likely return in 2015.
“He’s definitely coming back. He’s feeling good, he’s training hard,” Soares said. “Everything is good. Hopefully we’ll see him back. We won’t see him back any earlier than the end of this year or, most likely, the beginning of next year…As of right now I think his mind is set on fighting at the beginning of next year.”
