UFC 215 Preview
No matter the athlete or the sport there is only one goal for everyone and that is to be the absolute best.
In some sports that is to win championships but often that relies heavily on the team that surrounds a great player.
One great athlete isn’t necessarily going to win the championship regularly and there are endless lists of the best to never win the big one.
Fighting is different though as there is nothing but the fighter to determine whether or not he or she is the best at their selected discipline.
Athletes in the UFC are among the best in the world at fighting and to win a championship means that the fighter is truly the best in the world.
That is what every athlete is looking to do and at UFC 215 two athletes will continue their pursuit of greatness.
The main event and co-main event as the UFC heads to Edmonton are at different spots in their journey and there are certainly different standards.
Amanda Nunes is just beginning her pursuit of greatness but in women’s fighting the standard to be the best in the world, and possibly the best ever is not very big.
The last great fighter was Ronda Rousey and it has been proven that her greatness was partially due to her personality out of the octagon and a lack of skilled opponents in the octagon.
Not that Rousey wasn’t a trailblazer that should be remembered as such because the reality is that there is no women’s fighting in the UFC without Rousey.
The women’s game has evolved though and for the most part, has surpassed Rousey with far more skilled fighters trying to take over.
One of them is Nunes who took the women’s bantamweight title from Miesha Tate and then beat up Rousey in a one-sided battle.
With two legends beat, Nunes is looking to begin a long run as the champion and is hoping to be one of the best female fighters ever.
Her next challenge is Valentina Shevchenko who she already beat but who also gave the champion her toughest test before she was the champ.
In that fight, many thought that had there been two more rounds things would have ended very differently.
Those two rounds are here and Shevchenko has a chance to take the belt while Nunes looks to continue her pursuit and defend her title for the third time.
Although Nunes is pursuing greatness as a female champion, Demetrious Johnson is pursuing greatness on a higher level.
It is hard to argue against the assertion that Johnson is the greatest fighter in the UFC and possibly the greatest fighter of all time.
He continues his pursuit of that title as the best ever when he takes on Ray Borg in the main event.
If he can beat Borg it will become tough to deny him of that title as he will pass Anderson Silva for the most consecutive title defences in the history of the UFC.
Only Silva has dominated a division like Johnson who has won 10-straight title defences since winning the tournament for the flyweight title in 2012.
Beating Borg will be his 11th title defence and it will put him right at the top of the heap among the greatest of all time.
Unfortunately, not many people seem to care about his pursuit as he remains one of the worst draws for a champion in the promotion.
Despite being one of the best fighters in the world not many people are paying attention and although he might get that record there will still somehow be a debate about who the best in the UFC is both now and on the all-time list.
Although Borg will certainly go out to launch the massive upset it won’t be an easy thing to do against someone so well-rounded.
If Borg can’t get it done things are going to get interesting as Johnson has essentially cleared out the entire division.
With nobody left he will likely look to become the second two-division champion as he could very well move up in weight and take on some big names there.
Superfights are more common than ever and with a rumoured T.J. Dillashaw fight almost coming to fruition big fights might be the only option until a new challenger emerges.
Both Nunes and Johnson will look to be the best fighters in the world and staying as champions can help in that pursuit.
As Nunes looks to build her run in a pretty young division Johnson looks to pursue a long held record and put his name at the top of the all-time list.
The Sport Addiction 