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A dominant champion lords over the fight game like a king. There’s respect piled on from all directions, sometimes admiringly, sometimes grudgingly. The champ’s every trip inside the Octagon draws the rapt anticipation of how greatness will manifest itself once again. The fans, even those generally hard to please, stand back in awe.
Then there is the appeal of the rising challenger, whom everybody loves to get behind. We all relish the possibility of witnessing disruption of the pecking order. It doesn’t even matter if the underdog story turns out to be more flash than fire. We still savor the scenery on the journey up the mountain.
But what about the fighter who ascends to within reaching distance of the top of a weight class … and stays put seemingly forever? Often underappreciated is the perennial No. 2, or in the case of MMA, the No. 1 contender, the athlete who over an extended period demonstrates superiority to everyone in the division other than the champ. There have always been one or two of these sprinkled throughout the sport.
Joseph Benavidez fits the bill better than anyone in the sport’s history. For the entirety of Demetrious Johnson’s six-year reign with the UFC men’s flyweight belt, Benavidez was the clear No. 2. He lost twice to “Mighty Mouse” — including a slim split decision in the UFC’s first 125-pound title bout — but those were the only losses during Benavidez’s 15-fight run of success from 2010 through 2018. That has to make him the GOAT of second bests — which sounds…
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Source : espn
