UFC 144: Ben Henderson ready to beat Frankie Edgar -- then Anderson Silva's win record

On Sat., Feb. 25, 2012, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will pit its top two lightweight fighters against each other in the cage as UFC 144 comes rolling through Saitama, Japan, with guns blazing.

Ben Henderson will try to do what no one has been able to accomplish since 2008 by defeating Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and proving to mixed martial arts (MMA) fans that he is the number one 155-pound fighter in the world.

That's the goal, but it could be easier said than done. Speaking of goals, here's what else "Bendo" has on his agenda:

"I definitely have long term goals and short term goals, but that has been my goal since I first got into fighting, period: Just to be the best fighter on the planet -- no ifs, ands or buts about it," said the 28-year-old. "Not one of the best, not top three, top five, whatever -- I want to be the best fighter in the world, period. That goal is still in my sights, I still wake up thinking about that."

Check out the rest of Henderson's "to do" list after the jump:

One would think that just defeating the champion would be ambitious enough of a dream for Henderson. Apparently not. During a recent teleconference to promote UFC 144, Henderson announced that he has aspirations of "Silva" proportions:

"I don't think me beating Frankie at all gets me anywhere near the conversation," Bendo went on. "I'd have to beat Frankie, then beat a couple other guys, defend the belt -- what is Anderson up to? He's up to like, twelve right now? Thirteen? After I beat Anderson's record, whatever he stops at -- fourteen times, fifteen times -- after I beat that, then the conversation can begin."

Henderson is a perfect 3-0 during his time in the Octagon. In his last fight, he won a very impressive decision victory over Clay Guida at UFC on Fox on Nov. 12, 2011 in Anaheim, Calif.

He's gone a long way to show fans that he's more than just the guy who became the recipient of a highlight reel move at the hands of Anthony Pettis on Dec. 16, 2010 at WEC 53.

But is he biting off more than he can chew by comparing himself to "The Spider?" Is it too early to be making those kind of correlations?

What do you Maniacs think? Does "The Smooth One" have potential to be the greatest of all time? Got any bold UFC 144 predictions?

Sound off!