Renowned mixed martial arts (MMA) manager, Ed Soares, stopped by "The MMA Hour" today (June 2, 2014) to promote his latest project dubbed "Static," a four-episode series that highlights some of MMA's greatest rivalries such as Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva, which just so happens to be focal point of episode one.
"Static," which launched today (watch the debut episode here) is produced by Soares and will air on rap mogul "Jay-Z's" Life + Times hub channel with a new episode premiering every Monday for the next four weeks.
Soares also took the time to update fight fans on Anderson Silva's return, revealing that the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion is firmly set on retuning in 2015 following his devastating leg injury at UFC 168 in Dec. 2013.
His comments (via MMA Fighting):
"He's definitely coming back. He's feeling good, he's training hard. Everything is good, man. Hopefully we'll see him back. We won't see him back any earlier than the end of this year or, most likely, the beginning of next year. There's always a chance (he comes back in 2014), but as of right now I think his mind is set on fighting at the beginning of next year."
As far as potential opponents for "The Spider," Soares said there are several intriguing match ups available, including a fight against none other than Nick Diaz.
Yes, really:
"There's Michael Bisping, there's Cung Le. Even Nick Diaz. Nick Diaz has said he's wanted to fight him before. Nick Diaz wanted to box Roy Jones Jr. You could argue that Nick Diaz and Anderson probably have some of the best boxing in MMA, so we'll see what happens. Like we all know, so many things can change, the landscape of the sport can change so much in such a short amount of time. When Anderson is ready to get back in the Octagon, we'll see what opponents pop up. There's not a shortage of talent that the UFC has, so I'm sure the UFC is going to come up with a good plan on who the next opponent should be, and I'm sure it will be a good fight."
"The Stockton Slugger" has expressed interest in facing Silva in the past, but the fight never came to fruition because Silva was sitting comfortably atop the 185-pound weight class, while Diaz was coming off a loss to Carlos Condit for the interim Welterweight title.
But, now that Silva is no longer the Middleweight king and the owner of a rare two-fight losing streak, the Diaz pairing doesn't seem so far-fetched, according to Soares.
It's not exactly the title bout he wants, but it's a fight Diaz would have a hard time turning down the big-money match if UFC matchmakers come knocking.
Question is: Would you watch it? Or would you prefer Silva take on a true Middleweight in the form of the aforementioned Le or Bisping?