Silva wants Nick Diaz, not Rockhold, Belfort at UFC 212

Ideally, Anderson Silva would like to spend the twilight of his career facing fighters trending upwards, but he'll make an exception for Nick Diaz.

Currently without an opponent for June's UFC 212 thanks to USADA's recent flagging of Kelvin Gastelum for elevated THC levels, "The Spider" has seen Luke Rockhold and Vitor Belfort thrown his way as potential replacements, but as he told the press at the event's media day this week, he'd rather tussle with a foe coming off a win, and neither of them fit that bill. However, Silva would gladly ditch that line of thinking if it meant he could gain some closure in a date with the 33-year-old Diaz.

The former middleweight champion took a decision over Diaz at UFC 183, only for the result to be overturned to a no-contest after both fighters failed drug tests surrounding the bout.

"It’s something that was on the table, too, it’s possible that it happens this fight with Nick," Silva said, per MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz.

"I respect him, he’s an excellent fighter. It would be an interesting fight. It would be cool because this fight makes sense. The (first) fight was a no-contest, so we’ll see. Anything can happen."

Diaz hasn't laced up his gloves since he and Silva met in January 2015 - nor had his hand raised in over five years - and with his Nevada Athletic Commission-sanctioned suspension for marijuana now behind him, there's little other than his presumably hefty price tag keeping him from returning to the Octagon.

Silva, for one, still expects to make the card - scheduled for June 3 in Rio de Janeiro - and went through the motions at media day, playfully participating in the customary staredowns - without a foe to return his gaze.