Anderson Silva (far right), the former UFC middleweight champion, says he wants to fight Conor McGregor (third from right). (Getty Images)

There are many mixed martial arts experts who still believe that former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in the sport’s history. The records prove that.

He has 18 knockdowns, most in UFC history. He’s tied for seventh in wins (16). He’s got the most consecutive wins (16). He’s got the second-most wins in title bouts (11). He has the most consecutive successful title defenses (10). He’s got the most Knockout of the Night awards (7) and is tied for third in most fight night bonuses (13).

His greatness is indisputable.

But during all that winning, Silva must have been hit in the head harder than we thought, because he’s yet again talking about fighting UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

Silva, in addition to his long career as a middleweight (185 pounds), has also fought as a light heavyweight (205 pounds). McGregor holds the 155-pound lightweight belt and recently surrendered the 145-pound featherweight belt.

Now, we know McGregor’s an enormous draw and his opponents usually earn the biggest paydays of their careers when fighting him. But if Silva were ever to fight McGregor (News flash: He won’t), what would be next, a bout against Ronda Rousey?

This is sheer lunacy, but it’s not the first time he’s brought it up. A couple of weeks after McGregor was submitted by Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at UFC 196, Silva told Brazlian outlet Combate that he wanted to fight McGregor. Remember, McGregor said after his two fights with Diaz, who has been a lightweight for most of his career, “I even had to fight a guy three times the size of me.”

Silva told Combate (story is in Portuguese) last year:

I’ve never asked to fight anybody, but I would like to test my martial arts skills against Conor McGregor. I would like that and a rematch with Nick Diaz and Michael Bisping. I think McGregor is a great striker, but he didn’t do very well in his last fight because he played into Nate Diaz’s game and that’s really hard.

Most assumed he was kidding and laughed it off. But apparently, he was not.

He recently spoke to Globo, another Brazlian outlet, and brought it up again.

Now that I’m old, I’m beginning to challenge everyone. Oh, I want to beat this dwarf… what’s the boy’s name again? McGregor. It is not provocation. It’s just that I forget, I’m old. Old men know what it’s like. I have this urge to test myself against him. I think he’s a guy who has an unusual ability. I do not know if he would reach a weight of 178.5, 180.8, which is the weight I can get to, but it’s a guy I’d like to test myself before I end my career.

Silva, who fights Derek Brunson on Feb. 11 at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, N.Y., has to let it go. Perhaps he needs the money, which would be sad considering he’s among the top-earning UFC fighters ever. But it should go without saying that a bout with McGregor is never going to happen. Silva just makes himself look foolish every time he talks about it.