Nick Diaz brings in Glory Champ Artem Levin to prepare for Anderson Silva

trblesome1 said:
I have to admit going into the Condit and GSP fights i was ashamed to be a Diaz fan because all the 13 year olds coming out talking about 209

Well i am not from the 209 and have never once tried to "rep it", But i love watching Nick Diaz fight. His personality has never bothered me like it does others, at least he is as genuine as it comes.
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Haha, agree 100%
 
Great choice by Diaz. Nice to see 2 rival kickboxers who can easily be nr1 and 2 in the world have good vibes between them. Schilling and Levin still have some fights left between them..
 
Troublesome10 said:
Anderson is also arguably better now than he was in the Cote fight (2008) and obviously better (and much bigger) than in the Chonan fight (2004). Unless The Chris broke Andy's chin, he has the advantage almost everywhere: boxing, MT, wrestling, power, reach and strength. Nick has the cardio (but Anderson can go 5 rounds too, so it's kind of irrelevant) and probably the pure BJJ but he's not taking Anderson down.


I like Nick but I just don't think he can back Andy onto the fence and beat him up like he does to other guys.
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Can we break down where Anderson is obviously better?

We always looked at him as one of the best long before he ever ended up in the UFC, but he doesn't always look as good against smaller guys (who are often superior technical athletes to lumbering light heavyweights) ...

He didn't look great against Horn either (up until Horn tore his groin muscle anyways), and Jeremy was never a huge guy.

Anderson is 38 years old, he is losing the nanoseconds of timing you need to make the difference between evading a strike and getting knocked out.
No fighter stays young forever.

He will have the appearance of a world champion, and he has earned that; one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the sport.

But he has aged.
It has been years since he has beaten a top middleweight, with the last coming against Chael Sonnen who took the first round off of him.

I think Anderson could possibly win in the first round, but it would not shock me to see him end up frustrated by Diaz boxing.
 
ligthandshadow said:
I did indeed, but that's probably the only zinger I will have for the rest of the year and it is only January :(
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If you can match it again, at any point in time, you deserve to be the mayor of some obscure town in azerbaijan or something. I'm already thinking of ways your analogy can be toggled to do my bidding..great stuff :icon_lol:
 
robbie said:
I don't think Diaz is elite, but average isn't entirely accurate. BTW, I'm not a Diaz Bros fan boy.

* Nick is not very athletic, however, he has incredible cardio and his punching volume is amongst the all-time best.
* Excellent BJJ
* Well Above Average Puncher, Below Average Kicker, Below Average Striking Defense. Diaz is a high volume puncher. He is very busy and very accurate. He will press and he mixes in great body shots. Diaz is one of the best body punchers in the UFC. He has minimal head movement and is very easy to predict when and where to hit. I'm surprised he doesn't get hit with more uppercuts to the jaw given his vulnerability there. He doesn't kick enough or check leg kicks. If you let Diaz do want he wants to do it can lead to serious trouble. He is relentless when he gets it going.
* Diaz is a very weak wrestler and he also lacks strength. I think many fighters don't want to grapple with Nick because of his BJJ chops, but a strong wrestler with good top control can rag doll Nick and take away his boxing rhythm which is why Strikeforce and the UFC kept him away from top wrestlers. Silva is not a big wrestler so we might not see any TD attempts.
* Diaz has lots of experience and has been in the cage vs. many top fighters
* Silva in his prime would KO Diaz in 1 or 2 rounds without breaking a sweat, but this isn't prime time Silva anymore. Silva will win, but it might not be as dominant and quick as many might think. Silva with a late TKO is my prediction.
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doesn't those bolded ones and the fact that nick diaz has 0 top 10 wins makes him average?
 
ligthandshadow said:
Can we break down where Anderson is obviously better?

We always looked at him as one of the best long before he ever ended up in the UFC, but he doesn't always look as good against smaller guys (who are often superior technical athletes to lumbering light heavyweights) ...

He didn't look great against Horn either (up until Horn tore his groin muscle anyways), and Jeremy was never a huge guy.

Anderson is 38 years old, he is losing the nanoseconds of timing you need to make the difference between evading a strike and getting knocked out.
No fighter stays young forever.

He will have the appearance of a world champion, and he has earned that; one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the sport.

But he has aged.
It has been years since he has beaten a top middleweight, with the last coming against Chael Sonnen who took the first round off of him.

I think Anderson could possibly win in the first round, but it would not shock me to see him end up frustrated by Diaz boxing.
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he won't. if condit wasn't, then why would anderson be?
 
anthony stark said:
doesn't those bolded ones and the fact that nick diaz has 0 top 10 wins makes him average?
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It's not that he is average or above average (or below) it is his unique composition that is thought provoking:

One of the most incredible endurance athletes in the history of the sport.
The only time we ever saw him stopped via strikes, early in his career, he got up like it just wasn't anything at all.
He is one of the only men to stop Lawler.
He caught Gomi in an gogoplata in a crazy brawl.
He kneebarred Macaco in a jiujitsu match as a brown belt I think.
Just watch the Paul Daley fight.

Diaz is just an anomaly.
We can say "average fighter", but he is unique.

You can drown in a river that has an "average" depth of 2 feet if other parts of it go much deeper after all...
 
ligthandshadow said:
Can we break down where Anderson is obviously better?

We always looked at him as one of the best long before he ever ended up in the UFC, but he doesn't always look as good against smaller guys (who are often superior technical athletes to lumbering light heavyweights) ...

He didn't look great against Horn either (up until Horn tore his groin muscle anyways), and Jeremy was never a huge guy.

Anderson is 38 years old, he is losing the nanoseconds of timing you need to make the difference between evading a strike and getting knocked out.
No fighter stays young forever.

He will have the appearance of a world champion, and he has earned that; one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the sport.

But he has aged.
It has been years since he has beaten a top middleweight, with the last coming against Chael Sonnen who took the first round off of him.

I think Anderson could possibly win in the first round, but it would not shock me to see him end up frustrated by Diaz boxing.
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Well, I agree with some of that- Anderson has aged, and he probably has lost a few milliseconds of speed, but don't forget that he was looking just as potent as ever only 2-3 years ago. Sometimes guys just age quick, and maybe Weidman really stole his soul out there, so maybe that's what's happening here, but until I see him fight someone else I'm gonna assume Anderson is still Anderson. He's training partners are all commenting on his dedication, motivation, and the fact that he's still kicking "fucking hard". They're obviously biased but it seemed genuine.

I'm a fan of both guys, and I would probably jump out of my seat yelling at the TV and laughing hysterically if Diaz beat Anderson, but I just don't think it's a good matchup for Nick.

Also, you keep referencing super old fights. Anderson has continued to evolve throughout his career and he really wasn't the same fighter he is now (or at least, prior to Weidman). Don't forget, it's also been years since Diaz beat ANYONE, let alone even a top WELTERWEIGHT. Paul Daley in 2011 almost KO'd him if it weren't for dat chin. His next fight was against BJ Penn who really doesn't belong at 170lbs in the first place. That was 2012, the same year Anderson defeated a juiced up Bonnar and Chael with uber knees.
 
glennrod said:
True...haha
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I would contend that Anderson ran away from Maia for two whole rounds in a method far more embarrassing than Condit.

Maia is a natural welterweight too.

We can get caught up on a clown like Stephan Bonnar getting blasted out of this world because the imagery is so strikingly brilliant, but I have seen Anderson triangle choked by a Japanese pro wrestler and beat on the feet by a guy who probably should have been at 155.

Not that I haven't seen Diaz have huge screwups, but this fight is a fight for he fans for sure.

Hopefully it is a war.
 
anthony stark said:
just because you train with the elite doesn't mean he's elite. his skills are average & anderson silva will smash him. mark my words
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i agree, as a tune up it won't change a lifetime of habits. and diaz doesn't ever seem to game plan, which is what this fight calls for.
 
Nick has sparred with Joe Schilling for many years.

and good if he(schilling) knows a better sparring partner will help.

Anderson Silva was already fucked anyway. I still always felt even a prime Silva may lose to Nick. I have no idea waht will happen.
 
beastlightnbs said:
And he won't turn his back and jog away numerous times.
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you mean the guy who hid behind the ref when he was fighting demian maia? anderson will run if that is necessary to frustrate his opponent. why do you think he showboats in fights? it's not to amuse the fans that's for sure
 
That's really great, but I personally think he needs to spar with him more than "a couple" of times to really get prepared. He needs to be sparring with the guy everyday for at least a month or two in my opinion.....
 
ligthandshadow said:
It's not that he is average or above average (or below) it is his unique composition that is thought provoking:

One of the most incredible endurance athletes in the history of the sport.
The only time we ever saw him stopped via strikes, early in his career, he got up like it just wasn't anything at all.
He is one of the only men to stop Lawler.
He caught Gomi in an gogoplata in a crazy brawl.
He kneebarred Macaco in a jiujitsu match as a brown belt I think.
Just watch the Paul Daley fight.

Diaz is just an anomaly.
We can say "average fighter", but he is unique.

You can drown in a river that has an "average" depth of 2 feet if other parts of it go much deeper after all...
Click to expand...

so we can agree that he is a unique average fighter?
 
Troublesome10 said:
Well, I agree with some of that- Anderson has aged, and he probably has lost a few milliseconds of speed, but don't forget that he was looking just as potent as ever only 2-3 years ago. Sometimes guys just age quick, and maybe Weidman really stole his soul out there, so maybe that's what's happening here, but until I see him fight someone else I'm gonna assume Anderson is still Anderson. He's training partners are all commenting on his dedication, motivation, and the fact that he's still kicking "fucking hard". They're obviously biased but it seemed genuine.

I'm a fan of both guys, and I would probably jump out of my seat yelling at the TV and laughing hysterically if Diaz beat Anderson, but I just don't think it's a good matchup for Nick.

Also, you keep referencing super old fights. Anderson has continued to evolve throughout his career and he really wasn't the same fighter he is now (or at least, prior to Weidman). Don't forget, it's also been years since Diaz beat ANYONE, let alone even a top WELTERWEIGHT. Paul Daley in 2011 almost KO'd him if it weren't for dat chin. His next fight was against BJ Penn who really doesn't belong at 170lbs in the first place. That was 2012, the same year Anderson defeated a juiced up Bonnar and Chael with uber knees.
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Often old fights have the answer.

Randy Couture put together a game plan to beat Chuck Liddell by studying Chuck's victory against Guy Mezger (Guy had outstruck Chuck the entire fight and even scored a knockdown... until Chuck stormed out and ko'd him)

I think it would be fair to say Diaz in losses to GSP and Condit was more impressive than Anderson who got stopped in he first fight then literally broke against Weidman in the rematch. He didn't look good before the leg break either.

Either Weidman is a horrible stylistic matchup or Anderson is slowing a step.

They are both warriors, I am huge fans of both.
 
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