Anderson Silva calls for a fight with an old foe

It has now been several months since we’ve seen former UFC middleweight champion and bona fide MMA legend Anderson Silva in the cage. Though he was briefly scheduled for a UFC 212 battle with surging middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum, this plan fell through when Gastelum was flagged for marijuana metabolites, leaving Silva glued to the sidelines without a fight.

Based on a Sunday evening Instagram post, it seems as though the middleweight legend is attempting to rectify his inactivity. In his post, Silva called out Nick Diaz, who he battled back in early 2015.

When they fought in 2015, Silva was originally named the victor, but the bout was ultimately ruled a no contest when Silva tested positive for performance enhancers, and Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites. All the same, Silva says he considers his fight with Diaz to be one of the best in MMA history, and he’s hoping for a do-over with the fan favorite.

See his post below:

Acredito que essa foi uma das melhores lutas da história deste esporte. Com todo respeito Nick. Vamos mostrar como se faz. Aguardo sua resposta, máximo respeito à família Diaz. . I believe this was one of the best fights in the history of this sport. With all my respect Nick. Let’s show how it’s done. I will wait your reply, maximum respect to the Diaz family. @nickdiaz209

A post shared by Anderson “The Spider” Silva (@spiderandersonsilva) on Jul 16, 2017 at 6:05pm PDT

“I believe this was one of the best fights in the history of this sport,” Silva says in the post. “With all my respect Nick. Let’s show how it’s done. I will wait your reply, maximum respect to the Diaz family.”

Diaz, of course, has not been seen in action since this fight with Silva, and doesn’t seem to have much interest in fighting again.

Do you think this callout from Silva will be enough to draw Nick Diaz back into the Octagon?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/17/2017.