'It would go down in history': Conor McGregor ACCEPTS Anderson Silva fight at 176 pounds – days after calling MMA legend his GOAT

Conor Mcgregor has accepted a blockbuster catchweight bout against former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a superfight that would pit him against the man he named as the greatest fighter of all time last week.

McGregor tweeted "I accept" in response after discovering that 45-year-old Silva, who holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history, had talked up a superfight between the pair just hours earlier.

Responding to a post by McGregor calling him the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Silva made it clear that he would be willing to face the former two-division champion in one of the two fights he envisages taking before ending his decorated career.

"I have immense admiration for the great athlete that is Conor," Silva told his Instagram following of more than 3.5 million.

"I believe that a super fight would go down in the history of the sport. Neither of us need to prove anything to anyone.

"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."

Putting Silva top in a "GOAT thread", McGregor said he had chosen the Brazilian-American because of his "array of finishes across two divisions with champion status in one."

Clarifying his thoughts on the career of "The Spider" across the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, McGregor added: "He has the most stylistic finishes on his resume.

"Front kicks to face. Up elbow - albeit outside UFC - Thai plum knees leading to broken facial bones. A long list of jaw-dropping finishes. Myself and Anderson have the most exciting and important finishes in the sport.

"My array of finishes across three divisions, with champion status in two, means I'm number two, if not tied at number one. Number one will be fully secured by my career end – and easily."