Earlier this month, in the co-main event of UFC 204, Gegard Mousasi got a fight with an opponent he’d been calling out for years: Vitor Belfort. He did not let this long-awaited opportunity to fight Belfort go to waste. After a strong first round, the Dutchman finished things off in the second, grounding the fight, climbing into full mount, and raining down the punches for a nice TKO win.

With this win in the books, Mousasi now sets his sights on his next step up the light heavyweight ladder. Because the division’s top four contenders are currently scheduled opposite one another, however, Mousasi was forced to get creative in the hunt for his next opponent. This led him to call out aging middleweight GOAT Anderson Silva.

Despite this callout, however, Mousasi doesn’t expect Silva to take the fight.

“Anderson Silva is not going to fight me,” he said on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour. “He’s not going to risk it. I don’t have that big of a name, you know, so he’s not going to risk that.”

“It’s about making money I think for Anderson,” he said. “I don’t know if he’s going to sell a lot of pay-per-views fighting me or fighting GSP, you know? And he’s 41, he doesn’t need to prove himself, he’s just looking for the special fights. It’s not that he wants to be a contender and go for the title again. He’s in a different position, you know?”

Whether he gets the fight he desires with Anderson Silva, or a fight with another opponent, however, Mousasi is confident that if he’s patient, he’ll eventually work his way to an elusive middleweight title shot.

“I’m 31,” he said. “Look at these guys that are fighting. They’re all 38, they’re all 40. I’m the future. Even if I’m not a champion, I’m the future. I’m going to be in the top-5 always. I’m going to be in the top-10 always. [The UFC] is going to need me.”

Who do you think Gegard Mousasi will fight next? Do you think he’ll ever become the UFC middleweight champion? Sound off in the comments, PENN Nation!