Anderson Silva willing to drop to 170 if he gets shot at Conor McGregor

Anderson Silva does not have many fights left in him.

Some would say 'The Spider' should have stepped away [when his leg healed] from the UFC after he lost his middleweight title rematch with Chris Weidman in 2013. Three years on, now aged 40, Silva is on the scene. He is aware that he does not have much time left at the top of a sport he once dominated. To that end, he is angling for non-title fights against big names and bigger draws. In an interview with Combate, Silva named the three fighters he wants next. It will come as no surprise to hear a certain Irishman mentioned.

"That's a challenge I would like to do. I've never asked to fight anybody, but I would like to test my martial arts skills against Conor McGregor," Silva said. "I would like that and a rematch with Nick Diaz and Michael Bisping. "I think McGregor is a great striker, but he didn't do very well in his last fight because he played into Nate Diaz's game and that's really hard. The Diaz brothers have a lot of gas. You have to respect him, the loss to Diaz doesn't diminish his career at all. "These are the fighters I would like to fight. McGregor, Diaz and Bisping because that fight did not end nicely."

Kenny Florian is of the opinion that McGregor is fighting Nate Diaz again - reported to be at 170lbs - because he is keen to prove himself at welterweight and earn a shot at Georges-St-Pierre. Silva has fought at 170lbs before but that was a long time ago, 2005, during his days with the Pride promotion.