Anderson Silva Reacts To Conor McGregor’s Callout
Conor McGregor recently expressed interest in fighting UFC legend Anderson Silva. It’s time Silva reacts to that callout.
The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion will face Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of this weekend’s (October 6, 2018) UFC 229 from Las Vegas. But as always, he’s continuously looking forward to the biggest and best options for his career.
Silva is apparently on his short list of prospective opponents moving forward. The longtime former middleweight champion was recently exonerated by USADA. Because his name has been cleared, he can return to action this month. Silva does not yet have a fight booked.
When he does return, however, he’s apparently onboard with a potentially massive super fight with McGregor. The all-time great just posted on his official Instagram account that it would ‘be an honor’ to face McGregor. Silva also appears to know the current climate of the fight game. He’s seen the focus on super fights.
‘The Spider’s’ Response
Check out his response to McGregor (translated from Portuguese by MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz):
“It would be an honor to test myself with Conor McGregor. He’s an unorthodox fighter and has proven he must be respected. Let’s make it happen.
“The UFC wants superfights, I’m sure fans from all over the world want to see this fight. Professionally, I believe it would be incredible to test my martial arts abilities with a fighter like Conor McGregor in a true superfight. He’s focused on fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov now, after this fight I’m ready for this challenge. When and where he wants.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoecvhoAcsr/?utm_source=ig_embed
The 43-year-old Silva has been out of action since February 2017. He was set to face Kelvin Gastelum last fall but was removed due to his USADA issues. ‘The Spider’ is considered one of the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters of all-time.
He set a record for the most consecutive wins in the UFC with a 16-fight streak from 2006-2013 and will go down in history because of it. But Silva is far out of his prime. He’s also never fought at less than 185 pounds in the UFC. Silva did fight at welterweight before his UFC career.
That’s the highest division McGregor has competed at. It’s unlikely Silva would be able to cut down to 170 due to his advancing age. But stranger things have happened, and even though Silva is aging quickly, this fight would still be like printing money.
Is it one you want to see after UFC 229?
