jmog;1700998 wrote:Gomi was a LW, BJ was a LW, Daley was never that good and Lawler is the only good name on that list for a guy now going up to MW to fight one of the all time best.

To answer the question about Silva.

Here's his last 5 to 7 wins...

Bonnar (yeah, not good)
Sonnen
Okami
Belfort
Sonnen
Maia
Griffin (ex-LHW champ)

Sorry, but beating a Griffin, Maia, Belfort and Sonnen is better than Gomi, Daley, even Lawler. All of those guys are LHW and MWs, 2 or 3 divisions away from the LWs that Nick has big wins against.

Nick is a great boxer, but overall standup is nowhere near Silva. Silva is on a different level.
Nick is most likely better on the ground but his takedowns are bad, so I don't see this fight going to the ground. So his one major advantage, his BJJ, probably won't matter.

So, a fight that is most likely going to be all standing he is going against a guy that is bigger than him by about 20-30 lbs, has a much longer reach, and is on a completely different level.

I am not a Silva fan, I hate his antics in the ring almost as much as Diaz brothers, but anyone that can look at Gomi and Daley and use that as evidence that Diaz is even close to Silva is a true Diaz nut hugger.

I am not trying to be a jerk, just being honest. Take the blinders off. The Diaz brothers are great fighters, but he is going up about 1.5 weight classes and fighting one of the best in the world. He isn't fighting an average MW here. Plus he is fighting someone who is better at what Diaz likes to do (stand and trade).

Zoltan;1701013 wrote:It seemed really, really forced.

I agree the competition was not great for Silva in his MW title reign. However, his destruction's of Franklin (2x), prime Marquardt, prime Hendo, and TRT Vitor were way above anything Diaz has done. If he loses to Diaz, he 100% should hang em up.

robj55;1701130 wrote:If Anderson allows himself to get backed into the fence and fools around Nick could hurt him badly with combinations. Nick likes to double up on punches and that would work against someone like Silva who moves his head so much. I don't even think Anderson landed a punch on Weidman in their two fights, Weidman pressured him and he couldn't get any offense going.

robj55;1701139 wrote:Joe Schilling said that Nate Diaz suffered a broken rib a month out from his fight with RDA and couldn't train for his fight after that.

Raw Dawgin' it;1701149 wrote:If Diaz can get his boxing going like that, he could light him up for sure. He hits with such volume and mixes his shots and power so well. He'll have the added muscle and power being at 185 too.



Would explain why he looked so terrible, physically and during the fight.

robj55;1701126 wrote:Those were great performances, but none of those guys were great strikers outside of Vitor who he caught with a front kick.

robj55;1701152 wrote:Anderson is an extremely low volume striker as well, he averages 5 strikes thrown per minute while Nick averages nearly 20. Anderson doesn't throw combinations and I'm not sure that Anderson can KO Nick with one shot. I could be wrong but I don't think he can.

Zoltan;1701201 wrote:What's a great striker than? Hendo has floored guys who I'm guessing you would call great strikers (Wand, Shogun). Marquardt some absolute highight reel KO's. The one thing I could see happening is Anderson clowning around and getting in trouble. He is always concerned with the show aspect of the fight, and that could be a problem for him.

Zoltan;1701213 wrote:You are assuming Anderson has declined a ton, which may be true. He's dropped many fighters despite not thowing combo's - Hendo, Okami, Forrest, Vitor, Leben, etc. Some of those guys have GREAT chins, and he just effortlessly dropped them. Again, he may be totally washed up, we will find out.

robj55;1701220 wrote:All I'm saying is that guys who pressure him have a ton of success. I think Anderson's gonna win but he's damn near 40 and coming off two terrible losses, it wouldn't shock me to see this fight competitive in the least bit, Nick has a ton of skill with an endless gas tank and a tremendous chin. I think what makes this fight great is the unknown, both guys have been out forever and no one really knows how it's gonna play out.

Zoltan;1701237 wrote:Nobody (besides Weidman) has had a ton of success against Silva, he's the most dominant champion in UFC history. Who are all these guys that pressured him?

I agree it's interesting though, because Silva could be totally washed up. But Diaz is 7-6 in the UFC, ball don't lie.

Raw Dawgin' it;1701341 wrote:People forget Chael was about a minute away from being the champ. He dominated Silva for 24 minutes then got caught in a triangle for the 20th time.

Zoltan;1701387 wrote:Chael was also 30lbs bigger than Diaz, 1000 times the wrestler Diaz is (Anderson weakness), way faster, and roided to the gills.

Raw Dawgin' it;1701105 wrote:Seems like you're basing this entire thing on size.

jmog;1701516 wrote:If you read what I wrote I also said Silva is a much better stand up fighter and has longer reach.

There re is a reason for weight classes. While it is common for a guy to go up a weight class and get a win or two, no one is going up two weight classes and taking on elite fighters up to weight classes.

diaz is going up 1.5 weight classes (very small WW, would be a big LW) and fighting an elite MW. Size most definitely matters. If it didn't we wouldn't have weight classes in every single combat sport.

Zoltan;1701537 wrote:I don't think Diaz is a small WW at all. He's tall and pretty solid.

Zoltan;1701537 wrote:I don't think Diaz is a small WW at all. He's tall and pretty solid.

jmog;1701545 wrote:Nick is barely bigger than his brother who is not a big LW. Nick made the Pride LW of 160 (only 5 lbs up from regular LW) to fight Gomi.

Nick is a lot smaller than Lawler, McDonald, GSP, Hendricks, etc.

He is one of those fighters that are between weight classes. Too big for LW and he is a small WW.