Anderson Silva is not yet thinking about retirement, and in fact he has been talking about possible opponents when he makes his return to the Octagon.
In a recent interview, Silva had some sort of a change of heart as he expressed willingness to face either Lyoto Machida or Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in the near future.
Silva previously said that he is a man of honor, and this is the reason why he will not go up against Machida or Souza saying that both fighters are his close friends and frequent training partners.
The Brazilian MMA superstar, who is still recovering from the gruesome leg injury he sustained during his rematch with Chris Weidman in December, pointed out that he's now open to facing both Machida and Souza mainly because both fighters are not from Team Nogueira.
"That is something that I have always said, about not fighting a training partner, but it isn't reciprocal. Inside Team Nogueira we follow this but Lyoto isn't from Team Nogueira and neither is Jacare then it's a vague situation," Silva said, via Bloody Elbow.
Silva also pointed out that both Machida and Souza have been saying in the past that they are also willing to face him if given the opportunity.
"In all their interviews they said clearly that they would fight me so I can't think differently. I don't want to fight a friend, mainly Lyoto, but if I in the future I have credentials to fight for the belt and we have to fight, we will fight," Silva stressed.
Aside from Machida and Souza, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre also looms as a possible opponent for Silva in his remaining fights before he officially retires.
GSP has been dodging talks about a super fight with Silva before, but the Canadian MMA icon said in an interview that he will agree to fight Silva under certain conditions, including the catchweight.
"I can't play with my weight," GSP said. "I can't come back and fight for the title or in a super fight. It has to respect my conditions, all I ask is a fair fight. Right now I need to take some time off. But if they have an offer with something good, maybe."
St-Pierre recently took a leave of absence due to personal reasons after retaining his title with a UFC 167 win over Johny Hendricks.
