Anderson Silva wants to make it clear that he’s serious about wanting a bout with Conor McGregor.
Silva has been calling for a catchweight bout against the “Notorious” one. “The Spider” built a legacy in the UFC’s middleweight division, while McGregor made his mark as a two-division champion at featherweight and lightweight. Silva realizes how lucrative a bout with McGregor would be and is willing to cut down to 176 pounds in order to make the fight a reality.
Silva Cutting Weight, Hopes For McGregor Bout
“The Spider” sent a video message to his old rival Chael Sonnen. In the clip, the former UFC middleweight champion discussed just how serious he is about fighting McGregor (h/t BJPenn.com).
“Hey what’s up Chael? How are you buddy? So I talked about my superfight with Conor, and I start to cut my weight. And for no excuse and for everybody talking about, ‘Oh but Anderson don’t take the weight and blah blah blah.’ Ok, I start training and I’m ready for that. Conor ready too. And it’s a one thing, just Dana White, I need to make this fight real. Let’s go see,” Silva said.
Silva and McGregor have always shown respect to one another. McGregor has gone as far as to call Silva the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. While Silva has been pushing for a catchweight bout, McGregor has suggested a middleweight bout. UFC president Dana White has said that he has no interest in booking McGregor vs. Silva.
“The Spider” hasn’t competed since May 2019. He suffered a TKO loss to Jared Cannonier. It was the leg kicks that rendered Silva unable to continue. The once-dominant 185-pounder plans to finish out his UFC contract before making a decision on his fighting future.
As for McGregor, he’s coming off a successful return to the Octagon. The former UFC “champ-champ” defeated Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via first-round TKO. The bout lasted just 40 seconds.
