Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration
Every fight matters, but some matter just a little more.
A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, of course, but some of them feel bigger than others for various reasons. In some cases, the elevated stakes are easy to define. Picture the fighter on a losing streak who knows he or she is likely fighting for their job, or conversely, any title fight in a top regional organization, where the combatants know the big leagues are probably scouting them. At other times, a fight feels especially important for reasons that are harder to quantify but no less real.