Even before Lyoto Machida made a violent debut at middleweight with a head-kick knockout of Mark Munoz in October, he fielded numerous questions about fighting yet another friend in the 185-pound division.

Would, we wonder, the former light-heavyweight champion ever fight longtime training partner and close friend Anderson Silva, a former middleweight titleholder and one of the greatest fighters in MMA history?

Again stating his usual stance, Machida recently said it’s very, very unlikely.

“It would be peculiar to put on this fight since we have the same manager,” said Machida, referencing Ed Soares, who also manages their Black House fight team and gym. “So I think it’s very unlikely to happen.”

Machida (20-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), who next meets Gegard Mousasi (34-3-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Feb. 15 in UFC Fight Night 36’s headliner, said there are a few reasons for that belief. Primarily, neither fighter wants the teammate-vs.-teammate fight to happen.

“Anything is possible, of course,” Machida said. “But it’s not something we are interested in.”

Up next for Silva (33-5 MMA, 16-1 UFC) is a rematch with Chris Weidman (10-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who took his belt earlier this year. They rematch next month at UFC 168, and the outcome is likely to determine the course of Silva’s career.

However, Machida believes that Silva, who’s already posted a UFC record 10 consecutive title defenses, may not be so interested in another championship reign as he is in super fights in and out of his usual weight class. That means if Machida and Silva eventually appear on a collision course, the fight could still be avoided.

“I always say Anderson is on another level,” Machida said. “He was the champion for about six or seven years. We even talked about it. He said he already was the champ for a long time, that he wants to remain in the promotion and have super fights. And in case we have to fight, he said he’d even forgo any claim to the belt so I could have my shot.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 36, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.