UFC 183 Rewind: Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin And Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn
UFC 183 is set to go down on January 31, 2015 live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center from Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event is a highly anticipated one featuring the return of former middleweight king and pound-for-pound great Anderson Silva, who meets the also returning Stockton Bad Boy Nick Diaz.
Silva last fought last December at UFC 168 where he gruesomely broke his leg against current champion Chris Weidman in a rematch of their UFC 162 bout where Weidman notoriously ended Silva’s reign of dominance to take the belt.
Prior to this, Silva ruled the middleweight division for almost seven years, defending his belt a record-setting 10 times. The Brazilian knockout artist has one of the most decorated careers in the history of the sport. Check out where it all began and where Silva started his title reign by defeating former champion Rich “Ace” Franklin at UFC 63:
The last time we saw Nick Diaz in the Octagon, he lost a one-sided decision to former welterweight king Georges St. Pierre for the title at UFC 158 in March 2013. Diaz then went into a semi-retirement, and hasn’t fought since for personal reasons. The Stockton bad boy frequently claimed that he would only return if it was the right fight, and a bout against Silva was apparently enough to get Diaz back in the cage.
This bout is being dubbed as a super fight, and Silva isn’t the only one who possesses some huge wins in his career. One of Diaz’s biggest wins came against BJ “The Prodigy” Penn at UFC 137 in 2011. Diaz bloodied Penn up on route to a unanimous decision win as well as a “Fight of the Night” award. Check out the classic bout below:
When the lights go down on January 31, 2015, it will surely be a monumental moment in MMA. Which legend will emerge victorious in the massive bout?
