Who is your favorite fighter?

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My sister once asked me who my favorite fighters was. After I answered her, she did something most people don’t – she asked why. I didn’t have an answer.

She is not a fan of the sport, so my favorite fighter doesn’t mean anything to her and she pressed on. “Is the the best?”, she asked. 

“He’s one of the best,” I replied. 

“Is he the champion?” 

“Not right now”, I conceded. 

“Then why is he your favorite fighter?” 

I had to admit, I couldn’t tell her why exactly. 

My favorite fighter is almost supernaturally talented. But then, so are most of the top tier fighters. He is fearless in the cage and always brings electricity to a fight card. Once again, the same can be said about numerous MMA stars. My favorite fighter, though terrifying on the mat, seems like an exceedingly nice guy off of it. Ditto for many others. 

I even have other fighters who I like almost, if not just as much as my favorite fighter. Each of them has some combination of things, be they fight skills or personality traits, that appeal to me. Yet when asked to choose one person over all others, I will always give the same answer.

“But why?”, my sister still wanted to know. I thought about it for a few minutes before realizing the best way to explain it to her.

I asked her to give me her five favorite foods. She named five things, all delicious. “Now, pick just one of those. Which one do you like above all the others?” I don’t remember her answer, sushi maybe. “But you like other foods right? The four you listed and plenty of others. Some of them you like almost as much as sushi, right?”

She answered yes. “So”, I asked her “why is sushi your favorite food?”

After looking at me for a second, she replied “to me it just tastes better than anything else.”

And with that, I think she understood. 

So who is your favorite fighter? And why?