Given Anderson Silva’s enthusiasm throughout Tuesday’s media day, you’d be forgiven for believing he was in his early twenties
In reality though, Silva will turn 44 this year and the clock is ticking on the Brazilian’s fighting future.
‘The Spider’ is set to travel to Australia next month to take on the man who many believe to be his natural successor, Israel Adesanya.
The winner of what is expected to be a festival of flashy striking in the co-main event of UFC 234 will likely get a shot against the holder of the middleweight title, which will be decided in the main event between current champion Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.
“I think Israel is a great fighter, but he’s not my clone,” Silva told reporters this week.
— Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson) December 14, 2018
“He’s young, he’s a good talent, he’s a good challenge for me.”
While Silva, who held the 185lbs belt for a grand total of seven years, is eyeing another run at the title, the veteran also has a couple of fights he wants to tick off his bucket list.
A catchweight clash with former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor has been discussed ever since ‘The Notorious’ named Silva as a potential opponent last year.
Silva is unsurprisingly eager to avail of the payday that would come with sharing the Octagon with McGregor and he has spoken to Dana White about the super-fight but, unsurprisingly, the UFC president isn’t so keen on the idea.
“Conor is a great name,” Silva said.
“First of all Conor challenged me, and I talked to Dana about that and he said ‘Come on Anderson….No, no, no’, and I said ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’.
“Why not? That’s a super-fight. I think it’s very interesting.”
