Anderson Silva changes mind, says he'd fight his friend Lyoto Machida, and would accept title shot

There's an unwritten rule in MMA that training partners don't fight one another (Rory MacDonald repeatedly denied himself a title shot by refusing to fight Georges St-Pierre, while the friendship of Jon Jones and Rashad Evans ended after a pact to never fight was broken.)

Anderson Silva has always followed that mantra, but now he's willing to make an exception. Silva has trained with fellow Brazilians Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza, but because they are not members of Team Nogueira, he has now reversed his stance on fighting them.

"I always said I wouldn't fight teammates, but it’s not very reciprocal. We take that very seriously at Team Nogueira, but Lyoto is not from Team Nogueira, neither is Jacaré," Silva said on Brazilian TV show Altas Horas. "In every interview they've given, they said they would fight me, so I can’t be any different."

Silva also seems to have changed his mind on never fighting again for the middleweight title, saying that upon returning, if he were to win a few fights and was offered a title shot, he'd take it.