Jon Jones' Next Fight: Why It Should Be Against Anderson Silva

The time has finally come for Dana White to pull the trigger on the superfight between UFC champions Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.

At the UFC 159 post-fight press conference, the UFC president admitted that Silva had called him on the phone and asked to face either Jones or welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

While White wouldn't elaborate on who exactly Silva was referring to, it's fairly obvious that a bout against Jones currently makes the most sense.

Silva is widely believed to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Some would even go as far as to call him the greatest fighter in MMA history. What is there to gain from fighting St-Pierre other than an unbelievably large payday?

If Silva loses, St-Pierre would surpass him as the greatest fighter in MMA history. It would be tough to deny the French Canadian that honor after years of dominating the UFC's welterweight division and taking out the pound-for-pound kingpin at middleweight.

A win for Silva would be rather meaningless. People would say he only won because he was the larger fighter, and it really wouldn't be any different than defeating anyone else in the middleweight division.

Jones, on the other hand, represents the last great mountain in Silva's illustrious career. If he bumped up and defeated Jones for the light heavyweight title, a case could be made that Silva is the greatest fighter in the history of combat sports, period.

For Jones, it would be an opportunity to take out the most legendary name of all in his own personal quest for all-time greatness.

Unfortunately, the superfight would be doing an injustice to top contenders Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida.

Weidman is set to challenge Silva for the middleweight title in July at UFC 162. He truly deserves a title shot, and it's not fair to pull the plug on his opportunity. With that said, Silva isn't getting any younger.

It's amazing he's managed to hold up in his prime, despite being 38 years old. If everything comes together, it would be foolish of the UFC to pass up on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pair the two best fighters in the world against one another.

This chance may never come again.