Cesar Gracie: 'Anderson Silva's chin isn't the same'
We've already told you how we think Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz will turn out but now a much more expert voice has given his take on the UFC super fight, scheduled for early 2015. Nick Diaz's coach Cesar Gracie is confident in his pupil's ground skills but believes that the fight against "The Spider" will take place entirely on the feet.
From there, Gracie believes that Diaz will be able to touch Anderson up and put him away, in large part, because the former middleweight champion's legendary chin isn't quite as strong as it used to be. "I believe it’s going to be a standup fight the entire time," Gracie said in a recent interview.
"Nick is better on the ground, his jiu-jitsu is better, but I believe it’s going to be a standup fight and it won’t last five rounds. I think it will be over before five rounds, someone will get knocked out.
"Nick is hard to knock out, he was knocked out only once in the beginning of his career...Anderson is bigger than Nick, but he’s turning 40 now and his chin is not the same anymore. If Nick can get in there and punch him, I think he wins this fight. Nick will turn 31 in August, he’s just a kid. Anderson is fast and dangerous. I don’t know who’s going to win, but I know it’s going to be a good fight."
Silva will indeed be just a couple months from 40 when he fights Diaz but, more importantly, he has been separated from consciousness in his last two fights. In his first fight against Chris Weidman, Silva was finished by KO.
In their rematch, Silva was briefly knocked out by a right hand from the clinch in the first round, before getting woken back up by his head hitting the ground and/or Weidman following up with punches on the ground. Do you think Silva will be able to stay away from Diaz's punches?
And, if not, will his chin hold up against the welterweight? Let us know in the comments section.
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