Anderson Silva discusses interest in fighting Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis
Despite being 45 years old, former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva doesn’t seem interested in hanging up his gloves just yet.
Widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters ever, Silva has fallen on rough times in his later years, as he’s just 1-5-1 since losing his 185-pound title to Chris Weidman back in 2013. In addition, he’s failed multiple drug tests and has suffered multiple injuries.
Simply put, “The Spider” is no longer the fighter he once was, although he remains interested in big fights. In fact, he recently claimed that he had agreed to a fight with former two-division titleholder Conor McGregor but that the UFC wasn’t interested.
“UFC owes me a super fight by contract,” Silva told Combate (Transcribed by Sherdog.com). “Conor [McGregor] called me out right after my fight with [Israel] Adesanya. Our team talked to his team and we agreed upon a bout at [170 pounds], but something happened and UFC decided to not make it.”
McGregor, the biggest star in the history of the sport, won his first title at 145 pounds before becoming the first fighter in promotional history to simultaneously hold two titles after beating Eddie Alvarez to become the lightweight champion in 2016. He’s also competed at 170 pounds multiple times, most recently destroying Donald Cerrone at that weight in January.
Although the Irishman has competed at 170 pounds a few times, Silva spent the majority of his career at 185 pounds and even fought at light heavyweight on multiple occasions. The Brazilian is quite clearly the much larger man and while the matchup may intrigue some fans, it simply makes little sense.
McGregor isn’t the only former champion that Silva is interested in fighting though, as “The Spider” also mentioned former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who has spent time as a welterweight as well, as a potential foe.
“Then Anthony Pettis proposed that super fight, and I liked it because he was already a champion who has impressive knockouts. Of course, it would be a great super fight.
“At this point of my career and for all my legacy it doesn’t make any sense to face new talents that are entering the game now,” he continued. “I don’t want to be a ‘step’ for the new generation. I want to face relevant champions for the sport. And definitely Pettis is a great challenge that will make me train a lot.”
Unfortunately for Anderson Silva, who claimed that a fight between him and Pettis would take place at middleweight, “Showtime” doesn’t seem like a very likely opponent either.
UFC President Dana White even shut down the idea back in June.
“I saw that, that they were going back and forth. Him and Pettis? Yeah no,” White told reporters Saturday, per Adam Martin of BJPenn.com. “Guys talk s–t every day on Twitter and social media.”
If Silva is indeed going to keep fighting, who would you like to see him matched up with next?
