(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY .) The UFC sent out an e-mail Monday with quotes from 18 of its most well-known fighters, all of whom mostly agreed on two things: Middleweight champion Anderson Silva is probably the best fighter in MMA history, and he’s about to get beat up by a guy from Long Island with nine pro fights to his credit. For nearly seven years, Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC) has enjoyed an uninterrupted reign atop the UFC’s middleweight division. He also has made occasional forays up to the light heavyweight class, where he embarrassed one former champion and toyed with other opponents like a house cat dissecting a dragonfly. But Silva is 38. When he takes on challenger Chris Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday at UFC 162 (pay-per- view, 10 p.m. ET), he’ll be gunning for his 17th consecutive UFC win and 11th successful title defense in a row