SEEKING GOLD, FINDING PYRITE: THE CONUNDRUM OF GOING FOR THE BELT

I am a fan of MMA. No, not Mummies Mugging Albanians, I mean Mixed Martial Arts. As in the UFC. But more than the UFC. I also watch Bellator, WSOF, RFA, Invicta (the all female fighting promotion) and yes I will have to admit in the middle of the night, half asleep not the couch I watch Pancrease, the weird Japanese (do we have to say weird when we say Japanese, isn't it just implied) hybrid wrestling promotion where I ask myself "Why am I watching this" yet I still do

Occasionally I try to watch kickboxing but I get disappointed when they don't take each other down so it's the "mixed" part of mixed martial arts that I enjoy

From time to time I've written here about mixed martial arts but it was more around it's road to becoming legal here in Ontario. I don't think I've ever written about particular fighters and specific matches but this weekend past saw three straight days of fight cards, a lot of fights, some degree of drama and many situations revolving around champions and I thought that perhaps I could use these fights to address larger issues

Or maybe I just wanted to write about fights. You can decide. Frankly, once I'm done with this thing I don't even look at it again.

Yeh, Vic, that's pretty obvious

Shut up

Anyway

So, three days, three cards, a shit load of fights, including several title fights. And almost title fights. And title fights that became something else. Yeh, it got confusing

Over the course of the crazy weekend, titles changed hands. Some expectantly, some not so much.

I'm not going to go through every fight blow by blow that would bore even me. But some interesting things happened around champions and championships. Of the three championship bouts only one of the champs maintained their title.

The lightweight champion, Rafael Dos Anjos, lost his crown in his second title defence. He lost it to Eddie Alveraz, who has held title belts in every organization in which he has fought

The woman's bantamweight champ, Meisha Tate, lost her title in her very first title defence, to Amanda Nunes. Meisha had won the title from Holly Holms, during her first title defence. Holly won the belt from Ronda Roussey, who was the UFC's first female bantam champ; she earned that right by defeating ... Meisha Tate Before running into Holly, Ronda had defended her title six times

This past weekend the only champ who retained the belt was straweight champ, Joanna Jedrzejczyk a insanely terrifying and fierce striker who could hold that belt for a very long time. But here weight division is new and she is the second champ in it

So, lots of belts changing hands. 

That's the way it goes in sports and in particular this sport. It's difficult to establish a legacy in a sport where, really, anyone can finish anyone

Also fighting on this card were two men who thought they had established their legacies. Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo had been champions for a long time. They were fighters who looked invulnerable. Silva is considered by many to be one of the greatest pro mama fighters of all time, so much that he even took fights outside his regular weight category and won those

Aldo came into the UFC as the Bantamweight champ with a win record that spanned ten years

All of that changed quickly for both men. Quick knock outs changed the fate of both men. Now they are working to be the champ again, to rebuild their legacy Can they?

Put Ronda Roussey in that category. She had looked invulnerable and a head kick later and a long lay off, not so much

There have been champs in this sport, in any sport, that have lost their legacy and regained it. Ali, of course, was a once and future champ. Now, after Ali's passing most people look at his legacy as a straight unwavering line but there are gaps in there there, where he lost a title and struggled to return to greatness Of course, Ali's legacy has the benefit of time

George St Pierre is a UFC fighter who enjoyed a long reign as champ. He retired as champ. There are rumours that he may return. How people currently view him is a bit conflicted. At one point he was considered one of the greatest mama fighters of all time, this man never lost his belt, but there are some people not willing to grant him that moniker. The way that he ended his career, with wins that generally came as judges decisions rather than definitive finishes, tarnishes his legacy in the eyes of some

Roussey was a dominante champ. She finished every one of her fights, some in under a minute. But the way that she lost to Holms, looking like some some inexperienced girl, has also tarnished her legacy. If she returns and takes back the title in devastating fashion, I sense her legacy will be all bright and shiny again. But what if she returns and struggles a bit, let's say she loses a couple of fights but then takes the title back. What will think of her then

Some fighters, some athletes, some people, seem to need that championship. UFC featherweight Connor McGregor came into the organization determined to win the belt and he did; after winning every fight he  knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds. But before he could defend that title he made a bid for the Lightweight title; he wanted to be one of the few fighters who would hold the belt at the same time. Circumstances worked against him, Dos Janjos could not defend so McGregor took a non title fight at welterweight .. and lost. Since then Eddie Alverez has taken the lightweight belt and Aldo, over the weekend, has earned the "interim" featherweight belt. McGregor, the man who so hungered for gold doesn't seem to care, he is seeking avenge his one and only loss

Perhaps for McGregor was not the belt, it was defeating everyone whom he faced. Perhaps that is his mark of greatness

For Alveraz it wasn't just the belt, it was, after success in other organizations, winning the gold in the largest mma promotion on the planet

Ronda, an incredibly dominant champ who not only loss but loss badly and brutally seems to be taking a long time to lick her wounds. What if she's done? Was that one loss so devastating? Perhaps for her, winning was the prize and nothing else was acceptable

Then we have the case of one Demitrious Johnson. He is the current flyweight champ. He is the only flyweight champ in the history of the UFC. When the weight class was introduced, Mighty Mouse as he is known, won the title through tournament. Three years and nine fights later he is still the champ. The most dominant champ still standing and in my opinion, one of the best mma fighters in the world. He is a humble man, and quiet, he doesn't seek headlines or controversy, he just takes on every opponent and he wins

If and when Mighty Mouse loses what will happen to him? He has lost before but it was a while ago, in another organization. Will he recover from the loss and get back in the hunt? Or will he pack it up

What drives people to succeed, to win, to be the best. I don't think that we, sitting out here, will ever know. Sometimes I don't know if the athlete themselves know. And they may not know how they will handle defeat, until it hits them

Anyone can win. Anyone can lose. The champions hold the belts, the former champions feel the reflection of the gold on their faces. Can they look into the light or will they turn away from it. We just have to wait and watch. And that is, indeed, why we watch