The sports world has seen many Terminators, many of them fighters. Mike Tyson used to be the “baddest man on the planet.” Roy Jones used to be the undisputed best pound-for-pound fighter alive. Those feats were indeed impressive. What’s even more impressive? One man being both the baddest man on the planet and the best pound-for-pound fighter alive during the most competitive era in the history of mixed martial arts, a sport which has always been a ultra competitive one to begin with. Terminator Salvation might have just dropped, but even that flick doesn’t have a Terminator in it like the one I’m about to rave about.

What I’m about to say may set some of you off on a Christian Bale-like rant. Others of you will probably say I’m a bigger hack than McG. And some of you won’t even know the subject of this column from Bryce Dallas Howard. I could give two sh**s. Why? Because I’m wholeheartedly convinced that the T-2009, UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, is well on his way to becoming the world’s best athlete.

Silva has been so dominant in the UFC that he cleared out a very talented UFC Middleweight division, making it look suspect in the process. In reality, he beat the best of the best. Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin are future MMA Hall of Famers, while Nate Marquardt is an excellent fighter in his own right. Silva is such an incredible fighter that he makes talented fighters look like garbage on a routine basis. Silva is so feared within the sport that UFC head honcho Dana White, whether he admits it or not, has obviously had a hard time finding fighters eager to step inside the Octogon with the Spider. His last two opponents — Patrick Cote and Thales Leites, respectively — fought like cowards. They seemed petrified of Silva’s uncanny finishing power.

After the Leites fight, White said he was embarrassed by Silva’s performance. If you ask me, he was just upset with his own matchmaking skills. Recently, he’s had trouble finding opponents who look like they even want to be in the cage with the Brazilian striker. At least James “Sandman” Irvin fought Silva without soiling his fighting trunks. Sure, he got knocked the eff out like Chris Tucker was hovering over him talking smack afterward, but at least he fought like he had a pair.

Now, with nobody left for Silva to beat in the 185-pound weight class (except possibly Michael Bisping should he defeat Henderson, which I doubt he will), White has found an opponent in arguably the pride of the ultra-competitive Light Heavyweight class, Forrest Griffin. At this point, White had about four legitimate potential opponents for Silva: Georges St-Pierre, Griffin, Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans. Every other fighter alive save heavyweight badass Fedor Emelianenko — and I honestly think Silva, who walks around weighing well over 200 pounds, would have a great shot at beating him — wouldn’t have a prayer. Yes, that includes Brock Lesnar, WWE fanboys. To their credit, both Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva would fight the Spider if given the chance, and both would attempt to bring it. Both are washed up, however, and White would be smart to save them both embarrassment and injury by keeping them as far away as possible from the Spider.

As for Griffin, he recently defeated Rampage Jackson to become the light heavyweight champ, but was subsequently upset by Evans. Personally, I think both Griffin and Rampage are better fighters than Evans. Upsets are just part of MMA, especially in the UFC. Well, unless you are Anderson Silva. Griffin would charge a rabies-infested lion if he were put in the cage with one. He’s the total package; he’s got guts, stamina, heart, a good chin, wrestling skills and striking ability. Problem is, all of that only goes so far when you are in the ring with a superhuman specimen like Silva. Check out what Rami Genauer of FightMetric.com wrote about Silva pre-Henderson fight, a fight he was very impressive in:

Over the course of his career, Silva’s average striking accuracy per-fight is an even 70%. To give some context, the average fighter’s accuracy is around 35%, and Silva’s opponents’ accuracy in their fights against him is 24%. That means Silva is twice as accurate as your standard fighter and nearly three times as accurate as the people fighting against him. His footwork and technique are such that not only does he connect, he also makes his opponents miss.

Silva has never had a fight in which his striking accuracy was less than 50%. If that doesn’t sound scary enough, think about it this way: If you see Anderson Silva about to throw a strike at you, chances are better than not that you’re about to get hurt.

Then consider that he has the best footwork and defense in the sport, and has never been knocked out or even knocked down in the UFC, and you have basically an unbeatable fighter. Even great wrestlers get out wrestled by him. Additionally, not only is he an accurate striker, but a powerful one. He’s made a career of knocking guys out — either with one-punch knockouts (OPKOs) or barrages — who are hard to knock out. The barrage he pummeled Franklin with to win the Middleweight crown might be the most impressive one in MMA history. His catch-the-foot OPKO of Irvin was just as, as the NBA likes to put it of late, amazing.

Honestly, I don’t think Forrest Griffin can beat him. Rampage doesn’t have the defense or ground game to hang with the Spider. GSP, who has made a living out of overpowering weaker fighters, is too small. Evans flat out just isn’t talented enough. In my book, the only fighter who really has any chance of beating Silva right now is Fedor. Keep in mind that Fedor fights at a weight of around 230 — 45 pounds heavier than Silva’s typical fighting weight. Silva would be in trouble if Fedor got a hold of him, especially on the ground, but how would he do that given Silva’s huge quickness advantage? Besides, Fedor has beaten a bunch of hasbeens. The only great fighter he has beaten is Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Silva takes him out in training on the reg. Call up Minotauro and ask him yourself. He’ an honest man, he’ll tell you the truth. If Fedor and Silva met at a catch weight of say 215 pounds, my money would be on Silva.

Silva has won a UFC record nine consecutive fights. He is an unbeatable competitor in possibly the world’s most competitive pro sport. That being said, is he the best athlete in the world? If he beats Forrest Griffin, then, yes, I think we have to call him at least the most dominant athlete in the world, if not the best as well.

Winning 10 consecutive fights in the UFC would be an unparalleled accomplishment in today’s sports landscape. Especially considering Silva’s only two loses in the past six years came back in early 2006 on a very questionable disqualification, and in late 2004 on what is widely considered the luckiest submission in the history of the sport. To fully understand Silva’s greatness, one needs to only look at the other great athletes of the world.

Michael Phelps performances this past summer were impressive, no doubt, but the sport of men’s swimming is nowhere near as competitive as MMA, especially in the UFC.

Tiger Woods? First off, I don’t consider Tiger an athlete. A phenomenal competitor? Yes. An athlete? No. Besides, his record is seven consecutive wins, and the PGA is also nowhere near as competitive at the top as the UFC is.

Football? Tom Brady has been great, but he’s missed the playoffs, hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 2004 and only repeated once. And this is with Bill Belichick by his side, who’s widely considered the best coach in football.

Puppetmasters Kobe Bryant and LeBron James? They are having trouble with Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard right now. Besides, Kobe has never won a championship without Shaq (and as a Lakers fan it pains me to write that) and LeBron has never won one period.

Usain Bolt? If he dominates in the next two Olympics like he did this one, then, yeah, he would be in the conversation.

Roger Federer is now No. 2 in the world.

Baseball stars? If there were any superstars left who haven’t been juiced out of their minds at some point, then I’d consider them.

Soccer? Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t dominated for long enough, and the other Ronaldo appears to be washed up.

Hockey and NASCAR greats? Let’s not insult any of the above-mentioned athletes by bringing them into this debate.

Back to Anderson Silva. He’s like watching the lovechild of a Bruce Lee/Mike Tyson/Mikhal Baryshnikov ménage à trois. If Mike Tyson was the Ah-nold Terminator, this Terminator matches that insane level of power with superhuman agility, athleticism and instincts. How good is Silva? I fully believe that he could beat Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match, and he wants to. I think he could compete in the Olympics as a wrestler, and likely do very well if he trained long enough. With his endurance, footwork and intelligence, he could have been another Brazilian soccer great. With his instincts, quickness and power, is there anyone who doubts he could have been a devastating free safety? Steve Atwater reincarnate, baby. Even Bo doesn’t know Jack, son, when it comes to the athletic gifts of the Spider.

There. I said it. If he beats Forrest Griffin, then Anderson Silva is hands down the top male athlete in the world today. Let the debate begin. Like Silva, this case is going to be damn near impossible to beat. Oh, and for all the doubters out there, in August at UFC 101, he’ll be back. Hasta la vista, Forrest.

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(Adam Best is the senior editor of the FanSided.com Sports Network and the twisted mind behind Fan Addict. Follow him on Twitter.)