Ed Soares, the manager of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, had extremely high praise for his client on Wednesday’s edition of “The MMA Hour.”

"He’s bigger than Kobe Bryant and LeBron James here," Soares told host Ariel Helwani. "He's bigger than that there. It’s crazy. Every time I go there, I don't think it can get any bigger, but he seems to get even bigger."

“The Spider” is currently riding an incredible 16-fight win streak under the UFC banner, 10 of which were successful title defenses. His most recent victory was a definitive round 1 TKO over former “The Ultimate Fighter” runner-up Stephan Bonnar UFC 153. The bout was contested at light heavyweight.

Soares based his bold claim on the fact that in a recent meeting with one of Silva’s Brazilian agents he was told that Anderson is the second-most popular athlete in the country.

The top spot belongs to soccer prodigy Neymar, who was named the most marketable athlete in the world by SportsPro magazine.

Helwani then asked if Silva’s next opponent would be either fellow pound-for-pound great George St-Pierre or Jon Jones, despite the middleweight likely being forced to change weight classes in either situation. Soares was vague in responding.

"We haven't really talked about it too much," he said. "I think if it needs to happen, it’ll happen. We'll cross that bridge when it comes."

Silva’s team has been campaigning for a fight with GSP, the UFC welterweight champion, for months now, while Silva himself has shot down any talk about a match up with light heavyweight kingpin “Bones” Jones.

Is a fight with GSP or Jones inevitable for Silva or will he just look for a couple more dominant performances at 185-pounds before calling it a career?