Dana White: Lyoto Machida Is the Successor to Anderson Silva as Best Fighter in the World

We all know that UFC President Dana White proclaims his organization's middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, as the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA. But the 33-year-old Silva is already talking about retiring in 2010. So who would be the best pound-for-pound fighter after that?

White says it may be Lyoto Machida.

In a post at Tatame (which apparently comes from an interview conducted in English, translated to Portuguese by Tatame and then translated back to English ), White is quoted as saying he thinks Machida could be the next pound-for-pound top fighter in MMA.

Machida, who is 13-0 in his pro MMA career, will take on Thiago Silva at UFC 94, and the obvious question is, if White thinks Machida could be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, why hasn't he gotten a light heavyweight title shot yet?

If he beats Silva, Machida would certainly deserve that shot, but Machida, for all his skill, is not a fan favorite. So he probably needs at least one more win, as the UFC is likely to match up the winner of the UFC 92 main event of Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans with the winner of the UFC 92 undercard fight of Rampage Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva. Once a light heavyweight champion emerges from that group of four, Machida -- if he's still undefeated -- would finally get his chance.