Israel Adesanya topped Anderson Silva by decision in the main event of last night’s (Sat., February 9, 2019) UFC 234 (highlights here) from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. It’s high time Silva calls out an old foe after his UFC return Down Under.
While it was another great performance from the fast-rising ‘Last Stylebender,’ much of the talk after the fight is about how good the 43-year-old former champion still looks. Indeed “The Spider” showed he still had some gas in the tank in taking Adesanya the distance. He also showed many of his old tricks, even if they weren’t as effective as they once were.
The win drew praise from much of the MMA world. Most prominent among the praise being thrown ‘The Spider’s’ way was that from Conor McGregor’s mouth. The Irish star was especially active on social media last night. He said fighting Silva – a fight that has been discussed many times previously – “would be an honor.”
So Silva still has it. He also wants to fight at May’s UFC 237 in his native Brazil. And while the McGregor fight would be huge, ‘The Spider’ has an opponent in mind. Silva revealed at the post-fight press conference that he wants to rematch Nick Diaz, whom he first fought at UFC 183:
"I think it makes sense for me and Nick Diaz to fight in Curitiba."
#UFC234 https://t.co/Ig02zw0gte
— UFC (@ufc) February 10, 2019
‘The Spider’ won that fight by unanimous decision, but the result was eventually changed to a no contest when Silva tested positive for performance-enhancing substances. Diaz also tested positive for marijuana metabolites.
That would be a huge fight for a potentially huge event. That event could become a lot bigger than even that if what McGregor said next comes true. ‘The Notorious’ offered to fight Nate Diaz in Curitiba if Silva fought Nick Diaz:
Wow. That card could be sent into the stratosphere if the UFC were somehow able to set it up. The problem is the Diaz brothers just don’t seem to want to fight anyone right now. They want absolutely monstrous sums of money to fight any bout. Nick has not won since 2011 and Nate has been out for over two years.
Getting them to go into a hostile environment like Brazil seems like a nigh-impossible task. They have reportedly turned down many a lucrative offer from the UFC to fight in the USA. So it sounds great on paper and it most certainly would be.
Just don’t count on it happening. We MMA fans can hope.
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