Conor McGregor says he is willing to fight Anderson Silva

May 28, 2020

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Anderson Silva took to social media this week to propose the idea of a fight with Conor McGregor, and McGregor is willing to make it happen.

Silva pitched the fight on Instagram late Wednesday night, saying he has great respect for McGregor and that he believes a bout between the two legends would be a historic event for the UFC. Nolan King of MMA Junkie shared a translation of the post from Google Translate.

“I have an immense admiration for the great athlete Conor and I believe that a super fight would be something historic for the sport, neither of us need to prove anything to anyone; I believe UFC and sport fans would like to see this great martial (arts) show, testing my martial skills with him would be fantastic!!” Silva wrote.

McGregor caught wind of the challenge and responded with a tweet on Thursday morning that said “I accept.”

I accept. https://t.co/HYqF132EvZ

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 28, 2020

McGregor is coming off a dominant TKO win against Cowboy Cerrone back in January, while Silva has won just one fight since 2013. A fight between McGregor and Silva would certainly generate buzz, but UFC president Dana White almost certainly would prefer that McGregor’s next fight be against someone like Khabib Nurmagomedov or Nate Diaz. It also goes without saying that McGregor would rather fight interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje if the opportunity arises.

All that said, McGregor recently shared his list of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. He placed Silva first and himself second, though he said he may be tied for No. 1.

GOAT THREAD.
The array of finishes, across 2 divisions, with champion status in 1, Anderson Silva is No.1 MMA GOAT.
My array of finishes, across 3 divisions, with champion status in 2, I’m No.2. If not tied 1.
However still active, No.1 is fully secured by career end. And easily.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 23, 2020

Silva hasn’t fought since May 2019, when he couldn’t make it out of the first round with Jared Cannonier. McGregor seems to have set his sights on fighting again in the near future, and we doubt his next fight will be against Silva. If both fighters want it badly enough, perhaps they can convince White to make it work.