Alan Belcher is looking forward to a fight with Wanderlei Silva in his comeback fight next year. Belcher is still recovering from an eye injury and still has a couple months to go before he’s able to return to the UFC.

“I want to fight Wanderlei Silva,” Belcher told MMA Fighting. “And I think he needs to fight someone like me, a top young guy, to really stay in the mix,” he said. “He needs to do that to stay a legit fighter and not just a legend selling pay-per-views because he has a name. He has to fight me to stay up there.”

Belcher admitted that Silva won’t be an easy matchup, but feels he can still win.

“I am more technical, well-rounded and I can beat him in any part of the game,” Belcher said. “I’m not saying it will be an easy fight, but I believe I can beat him and I’m ready to let the fans see what they want to see and prove that I’m that caliber. I want to make myself a legend off of this fight. … I think a passing of the torch is the perfect way to put it.”

Belcher (16-6) has won 4 of his last 5. Silva (33-10-1) is coming off a win over Michael Bisping, but is recovering from knee surgery. Silva is looking to fight Chris Leben in April in Toronto.