Conor McGregor accepts a 'super-fight' challenge against Anderson Silva, a record-breaking UFC champion

• Conor McGregor and Anderson Silva appear to be negotiating a "super-fight" on social media.
• Silva is the longest-reigning champion in UFC history, as he reigned as a middleweight supreme for seven years between 2006 and 2013.
• Silva challenged McGregor to a bout on Instagram and the Irishman responded positively on Twitter.
• If the UFC ratifies the fight, Silva would be the tallest, biggest, and heaviest opponent McGregor will have ever fought.

Conor McGregor has accepted a "super-fight" challenge against Anderson Silva, a record-breaking former UFC middleweight champion.

The prospective fight arrives days after McGregor, a comfortable lightweight, caused uproar on social media after saying he was tied as "the No.1 MMA goat" — short for "greatest of all time."

McGregor ranked Jon Jones as No.4, Georges St. Pierre as third, then placed himself alongside Silva, sparking great debate amongst his 8.1 million followers on Twitter.

It wasn't long before Silva saw the post, and challenged McGregor to a "super-fight" to be contested at 176.37-pounds, which is between the welterweight and middleweight limit.

"I have immense admiration for the great athlete that Conor is and I believe that a super-fight would go down in the history of the sport," Silva said Wednesday on Instagram.

"Neither of us need to prove anything to anyone," he added. "I believe that fans of the UFC and of this sport would like to watch this great martial arts spectacle. It would be fantastic to test my martial arts skills against him."

Hours later came McGregor's two-word response. "I accept," he said on Twitter.

McGregor has few other opponents

Last year, McGregor said he wanted to return to the UFC in 2020 with a bang, fighting three times in 12 months.

He fought in January for the first time in 15 months, needing only 40 seconds to defeat Donald Cerrone in Las Vegas.

According to his own schedule, McGregor would fight twice after Cerrone.

Immediately after that win, the UFC president Dana White said a fight against the UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov would be next.

However, Justin Gaethje's stunning win interim lightweight title win over Tony Ferguson means the American striker is now on a collision course with Nurmagomedov instead.

Other McGregor rivals also appear to have different plans:

1. White ruled out a welterweight title match for McGregor against Kamaru Usman this week.
2. Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz are linked more heavily with each other than McGregor.
3. Even Manny Pacquiao moved on from a $250 million summer showdown in the boxing ring.

McGregor now seemingly has few viable opponents, and it remains to be seen whether the UFC ratifies a match with Silva.

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