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Who wins the Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz main event at UFC 183, and how? What do you expect will be next for each of them after that fight?
RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Unless Nick Diaz managed to sneak Ray Longo to his camp to teach him how to snap a titanium f***ing rod with his own shin, by the time Anderson Silva is done with him Nick Diaz's face is going to display an impressive array of every shade of purple the Lord above has ever created. Anderson Silva will waltz through Diaz, and then he'll waltz into a third beating at the hands of Chris Weidman. Nick Diaz will move to Colorado, go broke in six months, bulk up to 205 pounds and submit Jon Jones via 5th round Twister to become the new UFC LHW Champion. For all of 42 seconds, at which time he'll tell Joe Rogan he no longer hates MMA so he can't love it because he hates that he can't love hating loving f***ing fighting or whatever and retire on the spot.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
This fight is set up for Silva to relive his glory days. Diaz is a boxer who will stand in front of Silva and throw punches repeatedly. This gives Silva numerous chances to counter-punch. It also gives Silva a chance to highly impress if he finishes Diaz, who has an iron chin. So, Silva gets a high profile win in highlight fashion and Diaz gets a big payday. After this I would expect Silva to get another title shot. That's assuming he wins, which is likely but not guaranteed. After this fight, Diaz will probably wait around a bit for another big fight. There's only a couple that would probably be interesting enough for him to take. I could see Diaz fighting Matt Brown or Johny Hendricks. I could see him wanting to fight UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler as well, but the only guys that will be available to him would be guys not directly in the title picture. If he loses at UFC 183 and chooses to fight again soon, I think Diaz will fight the loser of the Hendricks-Brown fight at UFC 185. If he wins at UFC 183, I think he fights the winner of Hendricks-Brown.
BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
There's just no path to victory for Nick Diaz here. He got what he asked for, and he's getting paid; ironically he's going to pay for it. I think we see the old Spider return and tear down the Diaz aura while whomping him from pillar to post and maybe *gasp* shutting Diaz up once and for all. Silva wins and goes on to wait for another shot at Weidman. Diaz goes back home and complains about random crap until he gets a fight with Robbie Lawler.
KALE HAVERVOLD, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I think the fight is the perfect matchup for Silva. He feeds on counter striking against aggressive fighters like Diaz. I think Silva will be in the title talk again with a big win, and I see Diaz getting another high profile main event if he picks up the win.
ALVIN CARTER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
Anderson Silva wins. He is going to go in there and do his classic taunting and then shock everyone by getting serious and hurting Nick Diaz. Diaz is tough, but I see a late first round TKO for Silva. Diaz won't be out, but he will be picked apart against the cage.
TOM STRONG, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR
Two of my favourite fighters ever facing off against each other, what's not to love? Ok, neither are in their prime, Anderson is coming off a long lay off, and Diaz has been inactive, but it still should be an exciting fight.
Anderson is without question the greatest of all time, though how much have those two defeats from Weidman taken out of him? And of course the broken leg? Those losses will not only put doubt in Anderson's mind, it'll give Diaz an added boost of confidence that the air of invincibility Anderson once had has gone.
I expect the fight to be a boxing match with Diaz throwing both quality and quantity in his punches, with Silva looking to counter Diaz while waiting for an opening to will present itself at some stage. Diaz is one of the best boxers within the UFC, but he's facing possibly the best counter striker we've ever seen in the sport.
Prediction - Anderson Silva TKO Round 4
[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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