The goal of every fighter competing in mixed martial arts is to achieve at the highest level, with the lure of championship gold the ultimate prize dangling at the end of the rope.

Becoming champion on the biggest stage in the sport is an accomplishment experienced by few, but there are some who aim at something unseen--those who strive to solidify a status that will last longer than the golden sheen of a world title.

In the brief, yet layered history of MMA, there have been fighters who have defined the era in which they've competed. What Royce Gracie kicked off at UFC 1, Tito Ortiz picked up and carried the torch into the struggling years before The Ultimate Fighter. Chuck Liddell would take said torch by force with a blistering combination and open the doors for fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva and eventually Jon Jones to shine bigger and brighter than any fighter before them.

Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor would then take the concept of being a superstar in MMA to celestial levels, just as both athletes also held the focal point of the sport at their time. That said, Rousey's star would be of the shooting variety and come crashing back to earth, while McGregor's has remained to shine at mega-watt levels despite drifting off into another galaxy.

This has created a vacuum of sorts where the UFC, once stocked full of viable stars, has found itself devoid of athletes who are not only marketable, but who hold the significance necessary to make a lasting impression of legacy.

In this regard, current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is not only capable of owning the spotlight, but he is willing to craft his legacy for all to see.

In an era where champions and high-profile contenders are all jockeying for the mythical "money fight" rather than stepping up to face the next person in line, Miocic is the rare titleholder looking no further than the No. 1 contender. The Cleveland native has been a breath of fresh air in that regard, as he's stepped in without complaint to face whoever the promotion has placed before him, approaching each performance with the importance a title fight deserves.

In the history of combat sports, the heavyweight crown has always been heralded as the biggest show, the grandest spectacle, where the most dangerous competitors step in to do the violent dance with the greatest prize in the land on the line.

In his fight that would crown him champion, and in the two nights where he'd defend that title, Miocic conducted himself first as a man on a mission for greatness, then as a man hellbent on proving the greatness achieved was not only deserved, but something he would duplicate again and again until accepted by the masses.

Therein lies that extra intangible a promotion can rest something upon, and with the Ohio representative's first-round stoppage of Junior dos Santos at UFC 211, Miocic's record-tying second defense provided something that could be sold as well. Miocic is on the verge of potentially setting a record that would make him the most dominant heavyweight champion in UFC history, but something larger looms in the grander scheme of the big-boy ranks.

Turning back the clock to 2011, the division Miocic now champions seemed all but doomed.

Superstar Brock Lesnar had been dethroned in punishing fashion, then beaten back into a fake wrestling career in a pair of losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem. The prior would lock into a savage trilogy with dos Santos in a series that would alter the course of both men's careers due to the brutality they unleashed upon one another. Yet, while Velasquez and "Cigano" battled it out for divisional supremacy, they seemed to be on a level far separated from the rest of the pack.

For lack of better term: There was Cain and Junior and everyone else. Champion and challenger were all that mattered in the heavyweight ranks, and it didn't matter which man held the title. They were truly interchangeable, and while the thought was outlandish, the idea the two heavyweights could clash another three times wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

And while other challengers would rise up, there was no great future hope coming through the ranks of the division.

By the time Velasquez put the definitive stamp on his trilogy with dos Santos, Miocic was already a once-bright prospect now tarnished.

The future champion won his initial three bouts inside the Octagon, but a stumble and setback in his first main event opposite Stefan Struve left many to wonder if the former Cleveland State standout truly had the necessary makings to become a contender. Miocic would have to prove his moxie at a higher level, and winning his next three fights after the first loss of his career turned heads.

But coming out on the tough end of a hard-fought loss to dos Santos at UFC on Fox 13 in December of 2014 knocked down that momentum yet again. Just as Miocic wasn't detoured in his quest after the first stumble, however, the second would prove to set his drive into a gear that would unleash all of the potential he'd been striving to prove existed.

Miocic bounced back in his next showing against Mark Hunt and hasn't looked back since. With each fight he's shown his dominance in a different way. With a skill set deeper than one-shot putaway power (which he has) and wrestling talents that allow him to push a pace that would require an incredible gas tank (which he also has) Miocic has proven beyond all doubt he possesses a very unique set of skills for a fighter in his division.

To top it all off, Miocic has embraced his champion status in a way none of his peers quite has. He simply loves being the heavyweight champion of the world, using that status to connect to fans and showcase his love for a city that loves him right back. Those are special things that can be so much bigger with the right kind of push.

Even still, if that boost from the UFC machine never comes, Miocic could very well be the fighter who defines this post-McGregor era of the sport. Granted, the brash-talking Irishman could very well return at any time and resume his place at the forefront, but there are plenty of signs suggesting his return to the Octagon could be far off in the distance.

Pound-for-pound great and former light heavyweight phenom Jon Jones is set to make his return against rival Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 in July, but it will take some time for "Bones" to truly become reacquainted with a fan base that has loved him, hated him and almost certainly wants to love him again if it turns out they can truly trust him.

Yet, while all of that plays out, Miocic is stands tall at the highest level in the most dangerous division in the sport. He's not looking for anything outside of the natural flow of competition and is willing to grant the next man his due. That's so radical a thought in the current state of the fight game Miocic has become a throwback fighter in every sense of the phrase. He simply wants to do what he was born to do, and is so proud of being the champion it's come to define him as a competitor.

That's something to get behind, and it's the type of drive and ambition that could very well make Miocic the man of his time and place.

And if that turns out to be the case, the sport would be better for it.

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