Anderson Silva gets unanimous license approval for UFC 183, judges and ref selected for bout

Anderson Silva can officially return to the octagon. The former UFC middleweight champion and future Hall of Famer was asked to call into the Nevada State Athletic Commission's meeting today, as is required of all fighters 35 and older that are seeking a license. Unlike the questioning reserved for Jake Shields earlier in the meeting, Silva was only asked about his training, which he said was going well:

"I’m very good, very happy. I go to the academy, go running for 15, 30 minutes, and when I finish, I go to shadow box and jiu-jitsu movements, and go back to home."

Just like that, he was unanimously granted a license to fight Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 183.

The commission also announced who the referee will be for the bout, as well as the judges. Veteran ref John McCarthy will be the third man in the cage, while Glenn Trowbridge, Marcos Rosales, and Sal D'Amato were picked to score the bout. Trowbridge and Rosales were judges for some Diaz bouts in his first UFC run from 2003-2006, but have never worked a Silva bout. D'Amato worked Diaz's bout against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158, and has judged one Silva bout as well - his win over Demian Maia at UFC 112.