Nick Diaz Picks Sonnen, Says Jake Shields Would've Beat Anderson Silva

Nick Diaz believes Chael Sonnen will finish what he started in his rematch with Anderson Silva at UFC 148.

The former Strikeforce welterweight champ was one among many UFC superstars who offered up their predictions for the highly anticipated middleweight title bout scheduled for Saturday night.

In an interview with SportsNetCanada, Diaz weighed in on perhaps the biggest fight in UFC history:

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"Chael Sonnen, win that whole fight last time, and then he got that triangle slapped on him. I say, if he doesn't get submitted or knocked out in the fight, then he'll probably win the fight. Chael Sonnen, five-round fight, or who knows? Maybe he can actually work his way into a finish in there."

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Sonnen, a world class wrestler, implemented his game plan to perfection in the first bout, which took place nearly two years ago at UFC 117.

Silva never had an answer for Sonnen's constant pressure and strong takedowns. After being dominated for four rounds, Silva showed the heart of a champion by rallying late in the fifth and sinking in a triangle choke to net the submission win and retain his UFC title.

Despite Silva's dramatic comeback, Diaz doesn't believe Silva was looking too good in that fight. In fact, he wasn't super impressed by Silva's performance against Yushin Okami at UFC 134.

Diaz thinks his teammate Jake Shields missed out on a golden opportunity to take out arguably the greatest fighter of all time.

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"I don't think Anderson Silva was looking so hot in that [Sonnen] fight. I don't think he was looking very good against Okami either a long time ago. I think Jake Shields would've won that fight, if he would've got to fight Anderson Silva that night, and I think that would've put him in a whole different place in life."

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