Anderson Silva On Nick Diaz: You Need To Have Respect As An Athlete

All-time great UFC champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva will make his long-awaited return when he meets Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 183 on January 31, 2015.

When the fight takes place, Silva will have been out of action for just over 13 months following his unfortunate broken leg at UFC 168.

Today (Tues., October 14, 2014) Silva held a pre-fight press conference for the anticipated event, discussing many topics from his recovery to his personality as a fighter.

The fight isn’t that far away, and Diaz is well known for his aggressive (and sometimes strange) trash talk leading up to big fights. He’s been relatively quiet as of late, but Silva fully anticipates that Diaz will incite a war of words at some point.

“The Spider” has never been known for running his mouth, instead choosing to let his electric fighting style do the talking. His bouts don’t require buildup in that sense because he is simply that good as a fighter. Silva noted he would take that same calm approach into his bout with Diaz, but if the Stockton native disrespects him, “things” will happen:

“I’m very easygoing. I’m in a radical sport, for a lot of people it’s a violent sport, but I’m a very easygoing guy.

I think my work has nothing to do with my personality, but I don’t like to be disrespected as a man. I think you need to have respect as an athlete and as a man. If he disrespects me, things are going to happen as they need to happen.”

That’s about as close to trash talk as you’re going to get from Silva, and he clearly doesn’t like disrespect in MMA. Perhaps his most famous feud came with now-disgraced UFC veteran Chael Sonnen, who made his entire career out of brutally insulting Silva for the better part of two years.

Silva won in dramatic fashion in the first bout and in not so dramatic in the second after getting fed up with Sonnen’s endless barrage of put-downs. Diaz could incite a similar battle should he choose to go the same route as he did with his last fight, a one-sided decision loss to former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 158 in March 2013.

Both Silva and Diaz will return from long layoffs, yet their overall striking skills they bring to the table means the contest will sell itself.

Does that mean Diaz is going to keep his mouth shut? Probably not, but he could be in some serious trouble if he chooses not to.