Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz are mere hours away from facing off in the Octagon at UFC 183, and fans are counting down the seconds until the main event.
Admittedly, this matchup would’ve been a lot more attractive a few years ago, but both fighters remain among the biggest names in UFC. The company didn’t need to do much in the way of promotion to build to this bout.
One of the minor subplots for this fight is Silva’s insistence that he won’t wear Reebok gear. UFC announced a partnership with the company in December, which means that all fighters will be mandated to don apparel exclusively from Reebok.
In an interview with Terra, Silva made no bones about his preference for Nike gear, via MMAjunkie’s Brent Brookhouse and Christian Stein.
“I’ve always worn Nike, even before I had a contract with them,” he said. “Just because our ties are severed, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop wearing it. It feels true; it’s a brand with which I identify. It’s no use to sport a brand to which I have no relationship.”
Former UFC star Tim Sylvia stood in solidarity with Silva:
Reebok went on the charm offensive to try to turn the Brazilian around:
A minor problem arose when Diaz decided to skip out on an open workout that was scheduled earlier in the week:
UFC president Dana White defused the situation with his well-timed tweet:
Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer tried to connect all of the dots, figuring it was quite a coincidence that Diaz would go missing while the NFL is investigating the New England Patriots for potentially cheating in an NFL playoff game:
Diaz also provided some comedy when trying to explain how he was unable to get into contact with White to explain his condition, per Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting:
It was a relatively innocuous story, and forgoing the public workout likely helped Diaz‘s pre-fight preparation. Who’s to argue with that kind of calculation on Diaz‘s part? If it’ll make for a better fight in the end, nobody’s going to complain.
Of course, the biggest question on everybody’s mind is whether Silva has much left in the tank. Nobody expects to see the “Spider” of old Saturday night. He’s 39 years old, coming off two losses and a major leg injury. Anybody, no matter how great they once were, can beat Father Time.
Diaz isn’t without red flags either, but he’s more than capable of ending the fight if Silva gives him an opportunity.
Sherdog’s Patrick Wyman tweeted that the only guarantee for UFC 183 is that it’ll be entertaining:
Quite a few are hitching themselves to the Silva bandwagon.
Former pro wrestling announcer Jim Ross picked Silva in what he believes will be a classic slobber-knocker:
Josh Gross is also firmly behind Silva but feels that thinking about the fight too much can be a bit disheartening:
Silva also received backing from the UFC light heavyweight champion himself, Jon Jones:
From top to bottom, the card for UFC 183 doesn’t have a massive volume of great matchups. That shortcoming should be more than compensated for by Diaz vs. Silva.
Both stars are coming in off somewhat major layoffs and with something to prove. They may not be what they once were, but they should have more than enough left to give fans a great main event.
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