Anderson Silva Substantial Favourite To Beat Nick Diaz at UFC 183

Published on January 14th, 2015 8:22 am EST
On January 31st, 2015, Anderson "The Spider" Silva and Nick Diaz will both be returning to the UFC following long absences when they square off in the main event of UFC 183 in Las Vegas.

For Anderson Silva, the former Middleweight champion will be making his first return to the Octagon since shattering his leg during his second fight against Chris Weidman in late 2013. The leg break was so severe that many feared that the "Spider" would never return to the Octagon. The former champion persevered, however, and is now set to make his long-awaited return.

Nick Diaz, on the other hand, voluntarily chose to sit out following his loss to Georges St. Pierre in 2013. Diaz, who presumably earned bags full of money from the fight, elected to remain on the sidelines. There were many that figured that he was going to retire from fighting altogether - that was until the UFC decided to make Diaz a new contract offer. Diaz accepted and the fight between Silva and Diaz was inked for UFC 183.

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Anderson Silva is the significant favourite heading into this fight:

Anderson Silva, -400
Nick Diaz, +300

According to these odds, Silva should win the fight 80% of the time.

Anderson Silva has one major advantage over Diaz - size. Silva will be fighting at his natural weight class while Diaz will be moving up to fight Silva. Will Diaz, who is known for his volume striking, be able to stand with one of the best strikers of all time?

The concern with Silva, of course, is that a year plus of ring rust will be too much to overcome at his age (Silva is nearing 40). Of course, Silva has defied expectations before, so what is to stop him from completely embarrassing Nick Diaz on January 31st?

This should be a great fight.

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