At the end of the day, aren’t pretty much all of us gatekeepers? Better than some, not as good as others, but forging ahead nevertheless to try and carve out a respectable existence doing something we enjoy.
Ultimately, though, most people won’t ever be champions. Not to be depressing. Hey, it’s just the truth. We find ourselves a little piece of the rock, and we do what we can to maintain it while never fully giving up the struggle for something better.
So to me, there’s something essentially human about the gatekeepers of MMA. The velvet rope between the also-rans and the upper crust—that top echelon they would kill to see, but for whatever reason, don’t appear to have quite the right mix of skills or gifts to reach.
Some people use the term gatekeeper as a pejorative. I tend to see it from the other side. If you’re keeping a gate, it means you’ve got something to protect and, more importantly, are capable of protecting it.
These are the best examples from each UFC weight class. Gazing up at the stars, steering clear of the gutter and walkin’ that line, one fight to the next.