Assuming the English translation we’ve been given is accurate, it was admittedly a bit jarring to see reports of Anderson Silva’s longtime manager, Ed Soares, casually telling a Brazilian media outlet the middleweight champion “only has around four fights left in his career.”

Yet before we all start weeping over the swan song of the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter, it’s important to keep some perspective on exactly what Soares means when he says “four more fights.”

Given that he’s only fought twice each year dating back to 2009, Soares is essentially telling us that Silva plans to carry on through at least 2013, at which point he’ll be pushing 39 and will have a career spanning more than a decade and a half. Put in those terms, it not only seems impossible to expect Silva to soldier on longer, but it would stand as yet another remarkable achievement for him to even make it that far.

Nonetheless, knowing that the Silva camp is already thinking seriously enough about retirement to start throwing around numbers makes every future UFC appearance seem precious. Too precious, frankly, to have them spent fighting the remaining, lesser challengers in the middleweight division.

If Silva only has four fights left, we all know what they should be, in this order: Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones.

Such a lineup of potential superfights is epic enough to make it sound improbable, but anything less would be a disappointment, wouldn’t it? If Silva managed to close out his already legendary career by rolling undefeated through arguably the four biggest challenges of them all, there could be little debate left about his status as the GOAT.

Silva has so dramatically changed the UFC landscape while amassing 14 consecutive wins during five-plus years in the Octagon that it’s difficult to conceive of a 185-pound division without him. But if that time fast approaches, we should at least let him close out his run in a way befitting the most dominant force the UFC has ever known.