Although Anderson Silva put on a good fight with Israel Adesanya in the makeshift UFC 234 main event on Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, most fans were most surprised by “The Spider’s” decision to not retire after the fight than they were by his performance in the cage.
It appears as though Silva wants to bring his career full circle back to where it started in Brazil before he lays his gloves on the Octagon floor.
Silva’s first professional fight was in Campo Grande, Brazil, which is just one state over from Curitiba, where UFC 237 is set to take place on May 11. What better way for Silva to end his career than where it began? He even has an ideal opponent for the bout, as he’d like to run back his fight with Nick Diaz.
“I have a chance for fight in my city where everything start,” Silva said at the UFC 234 Post-Fight Press Conference. “I think make sense fight me and Nick Diaz in Curitiba. Let’s go see. It’s just waiting for Dana because it’s not time to make the good decisions or not; hopefully we’ll fight in Curitiba.”
Silva and Diaz first fought at UFC 183 in January 2015. Silva initially won a unanimous decision, but the result was changed to a no contest when both tested positive for banned substances.
“I think it’s a very interesting fight because the last fight with me and Nick is no contest. I talk to Nick… I talk to manager Nick a couple months ago about this fight and he say okay, let’s go do it, let’s go talk to Dana. Let’s go do it. I’m just waiting for Dana (to be) ready to talk about that.”
Former dual-division UFC champion Conor McGregor
Though McGregor has been linked to a potential fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone of late, he threw out the possibility of a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz in Brazil. That would easily push UFC 237 into the upper stratosphere if those two bouts were added to a card that is already set to feature Rose Namajunas defending her UFC strawweight title against Brazilian contender Jessica Andrade.
“Book it,” McGregor tweeted in reference to Silva vs. Nick Diaz at UFC 237. “I’ll fight Nate on it.”
Book it. I’ll fight Nate on it. https://t.co/ewh4aQ4E7A
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 10, 2019
UFC president Dana White has stated that his likely target for McGregor’s return bout once he clears his Nevada State Athletic Commission imposed suspension in April is for sometime this summer, likely at the UFC’s annual International Fight Week Event in Las Vegas. White wasn’t available for comment by the time that Silva had stated his desire to fight Nick Diaz and McGregor made mention of Nate Diaz.
