Anderson Silva: Can He Beat Anyone at Any Weight?

Anderson Silva is the UFC middleweight champion and the proposed pound-for-pound kingpin, but could he beat any fighter in any division?

When thinking outside the middleweight division, a plethora of intriguing match-ups for "The Spider" immediately come to mind. Bouts against Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Mauricio Rua, Cain Velasquez, or even Brock Lesnar would make for blockbuster pay-per-view headliners.

These superfights sound great on paper, especially the bout with St-Pierre. What about the heavier bouts? How would Silva fare against Jones and Velasquez?

"I just think that Anderson Silva has a chance to beat anybody in the world. I don't care what weight you're in. It's not an easy fight for anybody, whether it's heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, and I believe if he really wanted to, he could probably even make welter," Silva's manager Ed Soares said in an interview on "The MMA Insiders" with Steve Cofield and Kevin Iole of ESPN Radio.

It's hard to argue with Soares. Since entering the UFC octagon in June 2006, Silva has proven to be a rare talent. When it comes to striking, he is MMA's Picasso.

Silva's Matrix-like evasive skills and his ability to dissect opponents on the feet with surgical precision has mesmerized the fighting world for years. For longtime boxing fans, Silva can nearly be equated to Muhammad Ali in his prime. Striking is slow for Silva, and everyone else is trying to play catch-up.

On records alone, Silva will go down as arguably the greatest fighter of all time. In the UFC, he holds records for most consecutive title defenses (8), most successful title defenses (8), most consecutive wins (13), and longest title reign (nearly five years).

"As of right now, what he's accomplished, I don't think anyone will ever be able to accomplish, and if they do, it's going to be very, very rare. I don't see it happening," Soares stated.

Silva has every accolade and all the talent a professional athlete could hope for, but it would be bold to pick him over Jones and Velasquez. Along with a weight advantage, both champions would enjoy a tremendous wrestling advantage over Silva, which has proven to be the only dent in his armor.

St-Pierre and Silva is perhaps the most anticipated fight in MMA history, and it's about as close to happening as Harold Camping's doomsday predictions.

At 36-years-old, time is ticking on Silva's career. He has five fights left on his UFC contract.

If he manages to get past Yushin Okami at UFC 134, the UFC could opt to look outside of the middleweight division for Silva's next challenge.

Are the stars finally aligning for a catch-weight showdown between the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world?

If the world hasn't ended, there's always a chance.