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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Anderson Silva will officially make his UFC return on January 31, 13 months after snapping his leg at UFC 168.
In a media teleconference on Friday, "The Spider" said he never once considered retirement after the injury, and though his family's not thrilled with him returning from that injury, it's something he felt he needed to do.
"To tell you the truth, they're not too happy [I'm coming back] but they respect my wishes and now they're coping with it," Silva said (via FoxSports.com). "I don't think anybody's family would like to see their [loved one] going to war. With mine, it wouldn't be different."
Silva's coming back in a fight against Nick Diaz, and has said publicly several times that he wasn't interested in coming back to a title fight right now. On Friday, he didn't rule out the possibility of fighting for the title again, but said it's just not his primary focus right now.
"I have another seven fights on my contract and obviously right now it's not my priority, but it's not out of the question to fight for the title," Silva said. "Along seven fights if I have the credentials to fight for the title, I'll more than glad to do it."
"Right now, at this point I just want to feel my legs, walking, my movement, and see how I perform, that's my main priority."
Penick's Analysis: It makes sense that he's hoping to get his legs under him here first and foremost. Diaz is the right type of opponent for him, as he's not going to be worrying about any takedowns, and is instead simply focused on a striking battle against Diaz, over whom he'll hold a significant size advantage. It's a smart approach to his return. If he wins, and if Chris Weidman beats his fellow Brazilians in Vitor Belfort and, presumably, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, then a third showdown with the Champ could make sense for him at that point.
[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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