Anderson Silva is set to return to the octagon at UFC 234 in what should be an exciting fight against Israel Adesanya, the first time in nearly two years the Brazilian will have fought.
For many people Anderson Silva is the greatest UFC fighter in the history of the promotion. 'The Spider' holds the longest reign as champion, holding the middleweight title for 2457 days and defending the title 16 times.
Now 43 the Brazilian's recent record isn't quite as good having lost four of his last five fights and another win being overturned to a non contest after both he and Nick Diaz tested positive for drugs.
Silva's last fight was a victory. At UFC 208 in February 2017 the Brazilian beat Derek Brunson in a unanimous points decision.
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He was meant to fight Kelvin Gastelum last November but the Brazilian failed a drugs test, clearly not for the first time, and was banned for a year, with the date of the ban backdated to last October.
MMA Junkie have reported that the former middleweight champion is set to return to the octagon at the beginning of next year in Australia.
At UFC 234 he will take on Israel Adesanya at the Rod Laver Arena, on February 10th. The fight is yet to be made official but all parties are in agreement.
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It won't be an easy return to the octagon for Silva with Adesanya ranked sixth in middleweight according to UFC's official rankings and having beaten Brunson himself at UFC 230, in a Performance of the Night win.
The 29 year old Nigerian currently holds a 15-0 record in MMA and a 4-0 record in the UFC and his hard hitting approach has drawn some comparisons with 'the Spider.'
The Nigerian revealed recently that he wanted to fight his hero Silva, taking to social media to tweet, "Yo for real...no bullshit, if not for @spiderandersonsilva I wouldn't have looked at fighting from a different perspective. I was under the impression you gotta look like Paula to be a fighter. The Spider been fucking up muscled up beefcakes since ages ago as an lean aerodynamic man. He is still the g.o.a.t imo...
With that being said...I want #alldashmoke. Just cuz I'm a fan don't mean you can't catch these hands...and feets. So yes I am down...will do it fih di culture of fighting!"
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It'll certainly be interesting to see Anderson back in the octagon but can he win?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Anderson Silva, UFC News, MMA News
