Anderson Silva already cut down to 174 pounds, continues to push for Conor McGregor fight

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Anderson Silva is gunning for a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight against lightweight kingpin and part-time welterweight “dwarf” Conor McGregor.

Not because he wants to capture the Irishman’s crown, but rather because “The Spider” is interested to see if his striking skills stack up to those of “Notorious,” who boasts 18 knockouts in 21 wins.

From MMA Fighting:

“I'd like to test myself against Conor because he’s an interesting martial artist. His stand-up game is an intelligent game. Not because he’s champion now, but for the martial arts challenge. I’d like to see how these stand-up techniques, his and mine, would mix, and how that would go. But not to fight for a belt or anything like that. For the challenge, an interest, that thing about knowing how a fight like this would go. I believe he can make 176, 178 pounds, right? That’s a weight I can get. We started this work and I got to 174, but we thought it would be better now to do these tests.”

Sounds admirable. But a cynical, dried-up hack like myself thinks he’s full of bologna.

Probably because any fight with McGregor is likely to surpass one million pay-per-view (PPV) buys and if you’re getting points on each purchase, which most headliners do, then it’s a multimillion dollar payday for Silva.

Welcome to the club.

Before Silva can worry about McGregor, who won’t be seen for several month due to paternity leave, he must first get past middleweight contender Derek Brunson at the upcoming UFC 208 PPV next month in Brooklyn, New York.

After that? I suppose anything is possible.