two major titles, including at Wimbl

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Anderson Silva hasnt been in the UFC octagon since his leg was shattered 13 months ago. His opponent Saturday night has been away even longer, but not due to injury. Nick Diaz was just waiting for a fight worth his pain. Catch the UFC 183 Prelims on TSN4 at 8pm et/5pm pt. The enigmatic Diaz returns from a 22-month layoff to take on arguably the worlds most accomplished mixed martial artist in the main event of UFC 183 in Las Vegas. Silvas comeback from a devastating injury is the main attraction of the show at the MGM Grand Garden, but Diaz has been a dominant, divisive figure in the sport virtually since he was a teenager fighting his way out of a rough upbringing in Stockton, California. Many MMA fans love the attitude and toughness that make him a compelling attraction opposite Silva (33-6) — and Diaz (27-9-1) agreed to end his semi-retirement for this big-money fight. Theyre going to use me to fight the most important guy, because any guys that youve got out there right now arent really shining too hard, Diaz said. So theyll use me any time they need a guy for a big fight. They need a real fighter that fights the way that they want, then all theyve got to do is make a deal with me. Diaz is moving up in weight to challenge Silva, who was on top of the sport until losing two fights to Chris Weidman in 2013. Although his leg appears to be sound, the MMA world will be holding its collective breath when Silva unleashes his first kicks at Diaz. I fight the same, Silva said. My techniques, my style — I dont change nothing. I am training more. I think now Im stronger. Im faster and more experienced, but I dont change nothing. I go kick. I go boxing. Not too much, because Nick has the best boxing, but I go fight. While the sport waits to see how Silva will respond, Diazs return from consecutive losses is another compelling aspect of the UFCs traditional Super Bowl weekend show in its hometown. Welterweight contender Tyron Woodley also meets up-and-coming contender Kelvin Gastelum, and crowd-pleasing lightweights Joe Lauzon and Al Iaquinta square off. Former womens bantamweight title contenders Miesha Tate and Sara McMann meet on the undercard. Silvas return is an important development for the UFC, which has bounced back from a rough 2014 with a solid slate of January fights. The UFC lost key pay-per-view stars Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre in recent years, but the 39-year-old Silva is thinking less about his marketing value and more about revitalizing his career, which he insists has no end in sight. Its my legacy, Silva said. Its my dream, and the new Anderson is back. So more experience, more technique. Im faster, stronger and happier, and the UFC is giving me one more chance. Silva is one of the few fighters who attract more attention than Diaz, the bird-flipping triathlete, marijuana enthusiast and willing brawler who once held the Strikeforce and WEC welterweight titles. Diaz has been uniformly respectful to Silva during the promotion — although he stayed in classic Diaz form by missing a flight to an open workout for fans this week. Perhaps Diaz is in a good mood because he can eat. After more than a decade of draining weight cuts to 170 pounds for his welterweight fights, Diaz is thriving in training as a middleweight. Ive been moving up in weight, so of course Im going to feel a little stronger and more energetic, Diaz said. When I fight at 170, especially if I fight three times a year, Im never really 100 per cent in any of those fights, because its so hard to (make) 170 pounds. Its hard to do that three times in a year, and then Ive never had a year off. Diaz is healthy and rested after his lengthy octagon absence, yet he again demonstrated his disarming candidness earlier in the promotion for this bout when he acknowledged he doesnt have much fun in his sport. With an enormous fight just a few days away, his opinion hasnt changed. Thats how it is, Diaz said. I enjoy a lot about it, a lot about mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu and training with friends and people, but fighting is hard work. Its a hard job. . Scrivens stopped 48 shots and captain Andrew Ference scored in overtime as the Oilers pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career. http://www.redsauthenticproshop.com/aut ... ds-jersey/. Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland. . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate). . The 26-year-old Sobotka injured his left leg playing for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Blues said he would not recover from the injury in time for the Olympic tournament.PARIS -- Andy Murray headed out on court with an opportunity to reach the French Open final for the first time. Rafael Nadal, however, didnt give him a chance. Murray, who missed the tournament at Roland Garros last year because of a back injury, reached the semifinals for the second time in four years. But for the second time in four years, he was beaten by Nadal in straight sets. "It was a tough day for me," said Murray, who lost 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 Friday. "It was a bad, bad day." Murrays serve was broken six times, the same number of break-point chances Nadal had. On the other end, Murray failed to even earn a break chance. "He missed hardly any balls," Murray said. "I mean, his forehand -- especially with the conditions the way they were today -- was incredibly hard to control the ball." Murray is now 7-7 in Grand Slam semifinals. He has won two major titles, including at Wimbledon last year where he became the first British man to win the grass-court tournament in southwest London since Fred Perry in 1936. But clay is a tougher surface for a player who likes the speedier courts. And playing on clay against Nadal, an eight-time French Open champion with a 65-1 record at Roland Garros, is tougher still. "Today, I was mis-hitting a lot of balls. It was incredibly fruustrating," Murray said.dddddddddddd "In some ways you start trying too hard, and it doesnt always appear that way. But you want to do stuff too badly, and you end up making more mistakes and things get worse." The weather didnt help. After nearly two weeks of overcast skies and cool weather, the sun was out and the temperature soared to 28 degrees C (82 degrees F). Perfect conditions for Nadal on his favourite court in the world. "He served well and I didnt return well. Simple," Murray said. "Ball was coming through the court quicker today." Murray won his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2012. That was after losing his first four major finals, and it was also after hiring Ivan Lendl as coach. The Czech great helped Murray finally become a major champion, and a Wimbledon champion a year later, but the pair split in March and Murray has been without a coach since. With another Wimbledon coming up, the defending champion said there was a 50-50 chance he would have a new coach in place by the time the tournament starts on June 23. But he wasnt even too sure about that. "I dont know. I dont know," Murray said, shaking off a reporters question as he tried to shake off the defeat. "I would hope to have someone in place. I dont know." ' ' '