UFC News: Anderson Silva willing to fight Conor McGregor in the near future

Anderson Silva is hoping for a dream fight against Conor McGregor

What's the story?

In a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, Conor McGregor revealed his interests of a potential dream fight against legendary UFC fighter Anderson Silva, who has now subsequently responded to the Irishman's recent claims.

In case you didn't know...

Anderson Silva's USADA suspension has kept him out of Octagon action since last February of 2017, however, later next month, the former UFC Middleweight Champion will once again be clear to fight in the UFC, as he prepares himself to make a grand return to Octagon competition.

The heart of the matter

Following Conor McGregor's huge return to the UFC after an absence of two years, there have been discussions of several big dream fights surrounding The Notorious One and one of those fights which McGregor apparently is interested in is a showdown against former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

McGregor's recent comments on The MMA Show have now made it to The Spider, who took it to his official Instagram handle and acknowledged his interest in a dream fight against the former two-division UFC Champion.

As noted, Silva stated on Instagram that it would be an honor for him to share the Octagon with Conor McGregor, who The Spider billed as an unorthodox fighter and is someone who deserves to be respected.

“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.”- Silva stated on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

🤔👍🏾🤔👍🏾🤔👍🏾🤔👍🏾🤔 Seria uma grande honra me testar ”lutar” com Conor Mcgregor. Ele é um lutador eclético, e já provou que tem que ser respeitado. Vamos fazer isto acontecer! O UFC quer super lutas, tenho certeza que os fãs dos 4 cantos do mundo querem ver está luta. Eu profissionalmente acredito que seria incrível testar minhas habilidades marciais com um lutador como Conor Mcgregor uma super luta de verdade! Agora ele está focado na sua luta contra Khabib Nurmagomedov, depois dessa luta eu estou pronto para este desafio! Quando e onde ele quiser.

A post shared by Anderson "The Spider" Silva (@spiderandersonsilva) on Oct 3, 2018 at 8:20am PDT

What's next?

Conor McGregor will challenge for the UFC Lightweight Championship this Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as he gears up for a historic fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.