Since the advent of the flyweight division, Demetrious Johnson hasn’t had much time for summer vacations.

Four years and change after the UFC introduced the 125-pound weight class, the one and only man to wear the division’s championship belt has either spent the summer months preparing to compete or actually stepping into the Octagon and in some cases, he’s done both.

He won the title in September 2012 after beating Ian McCall in June to advance to the inaugural championship bout opposite Joseph Benavidez in Toronto and made the same quick turnaround two years later, defeating Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 in Vancouver in June before stepping in and stopping Chris Cariaso three months later in Las Vegas.

Over the last couple years, Johnson’s schedule has become even more static in a sense, as the man known as “Mighty Mouse” has alternated between fighting in April and September dating back to that UFC 178 clash with Cariaso.

It was supposed to me more of the same for Johnson this summer as well, as the pound-for-pound standout was booked to defend his title against Wilson Reis at UFC 201 on July 30 in Atlanta, but three weeks out, the champion was forced to withdraw from the contest due to an injury.

And just like that, his summer schedule was wide open.

“Sometimes I look at it like a blessing in disguise,” Johnson said of the sudden, unexpected change in plans. “It’s the first summer I’ve had off in maybe four years, so I got to spend time with my family and that was good. It was good to have time off and just focus on myself and my family.

“I worked on building up my Twitch, went to Disneyland, went to Montana, did some camping,” offered the proud father of two, listing off the activities and adventures that occupied his time over the last few months. “I almost kind of stepped away from mixed martial arts – I didn’t worry about what’s going on in that world and just focused on my family.”

That’s not to say he wasn’t still in the kitchen, cooking up new recipes with head chef Matt Hume and sous chef Brad Kertson at AMC Pankration; it just means that he wasn’t getting caught up in the non-stop storm of bickering and grousing that takes place on MMA Twitter after every close fight and following each event.

Training never stops and now that the summer is behind him, Johnson and his coaches have started to really get down to business, as the flyweight champion will defend his title on Saturday, December 3 against the winner of the current “Tournament of Champions” taking place on Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Be there for Demetrious’ next title defense! Get tix for The Ultimate Fighter finale here

“I knew a couple of the guys,” Johnson said when asked how familiar he was with the cast and if he’s been paying close attention to the show, knowing that he’ll eventually share the cage with one of the contestants. “I knew Tim Elliott because he fought in the UFC, Damacio Page because he fought in the UFC and I remembered “Danger,” Matt Schnell, from the “Caged” MTV show.

“Those are the three I knew off the top of my head, and then I looked up “Zulu” because I thought it was cool to have the African champion and I looked up Hiromasa Ogikubo and I saw Horiguchi beat him for the title and that’s when Horiguchi got to the UFC.

“Other than that, I didn’t give it a lot of time because I’m not the type of person who scouts people,” he added. “People say, ‘Losers focus on winners and winners focus on themselves,’ and I have to focus on myself to make sure I’m the best Demetrious Johnson when it comes to fight night.”

Over his last 10 fights, the first and only flyweight champ in UFC history has been pretty close to perfect, earning victories in all 10 outings and walking away from most of those encounters unscathed.

Having claimed the vacant title in the second bout of his winning streak, Johnson will be searching for his ninth consecutive successful title defense when he returns to action in December. If he’s able to retain the belt, it will leave him one victory away from equaling Anderson Silva’s UFC record of 10 straight successful title defenses, a major goal Johnson set out to reach when he began his reign a little over four years ago.

While many have been clamoring for the ruler of the 125-pound ranks to return to bantamweight and face Dominick Cruz in a clash of champions, the 30-year-old fighting out of Parkland, Washington has been steadfast in his desire to remain at flyweight in order to chase history and now that he’s getting close to the record, Johnson is starting to get excited.

“Hopefully I get through this one and then 2017 looks like an awesome year,” said Johnson, who is fully healed and feeling great following the injury that forced him out of the bout with Reis this summer.

Should he break the record, don’t expect a grand celebration or the flyweight champion to suddenly start making all kinds of demands; that’s just not how he’s wired.

“Somebody said to me the other day, ‘You’ve got two parts to mixed martial arts – the entertainment and business side and the pure sport’ and I believe I’m the pure sport of it because it’s, ‘Okay – who do you want me to fight? Who’s the No. 1 contender?’ I’m the guy who just goes to the gym and trains and waits until the UFC calls.

“As long as I stay healthy and I go out there and keep my performances where they need to be, I’m excited to see what happens when I tie it and when I break it and then we’ll go from there.

“It’s just like when I won the belt: ‘Okay – what’s next?’”

Get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs Ferguson in Mexico City

Earlier this year, The New York Times listed Mexico City on top of its list in the article „52 Places to Go in 2016,“ making a solid case for the country’s largest city.

Mexican fans of the UFC couldn’t agree more.

Mexico City is not just a safe city to visit or live, but it is one of the most interesting and fun cities in the world, as former champions and Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin can testify.

Liddell and Griffin recently spent several hours walking the halls of the historic Chapultepec Castle during their promotional media obligations to announce today’s ticket on-sale date.

Well known as being fearless, both had the chance to prove it again, eating the traditional Escamoles (ant larvae) and Chapulines tacos (grasshoppers). Trying new things is important in a country filled with traditions.

Check out the Nov. 5 fight card in Mexico City

The timing will also be special for UFC Fight Night Dos Anjos vs Ferguson this fall. Nov. 2, only three nights before the event, marks the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), a splendid and emotional festival when Mexico remembers and honors those who went ahead on the road with food, music, candles and a whole night of gatherings.

Not many cultures celebrate death, but Mexicans embrace the symbolism: remembering happy days; having a good time with the ones you love, present or departed; in order to learn how to enjoy every moment, every experience.

The UFC has always known Mexico is a special place. That’s why the Nov. 5 card will be the third time the Octagon will visit the Arena Ciudad de México.

And while the NYT discussed Mexico City food opportunities, its affordable prices as well as the diverse and vanguard design, photography and cultural options, the UFC has reasons of its own to love Mexico.

The fans have showed their passion — a loud passion — and they are always hungry for more. Their knowledge of the sport is remarkable. They’ll cheer the entire night.

The beautiful Arena Ciudad de México has become the home of the Octagon for a reason, a big modern arena capable of hosting more than 20,000 enthusiast fans.

And to discuss Mexican fighters is to talk about spectacle and emotion. Take the Tony Ferguson as an example: “El Cucuy” has won five bonuses in his last four fights (yes, he won two bonuses vs. Edson Barboza last December).

From “El Cucuy” you can always expect aggressiveness.

Same for Kelvin Gastelum, who will fight for the third time inside the Arena Ciudad de México, is looking to get his third win. Gastelum is another young prospect who will exchange throughout the entire fight.

Mexican fighters like to put on a show. Mexico City likes to put on a show. And the UFC … well, you get the point.

In short: If you love MMA and you’re thinking in visiting Mexico City, the time couldn’t be perfect enough.

With UFC 205 quickly approaching and the assembled collection of fighters set to compete at Madison Square Garden on November 12 primed to make it the biggest event in UFC history, what better time than now to run back a list of the stellar shows that can also claim membership in that exclusive club?

Here they are in chronological order, because ranking them is completely subjective and an internet fight I’m not interested in having at this moment.

This is The 10

UFC 1 – November 12, 1993

You have to start at the start; there is no way around it.

Not only did the initial eight-man tournament at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado add the letters “UFC” into the sports and mainstream media lexicon and put mixed martial arts on the map, it was also the event that inspired a large number of athletes who eventually earned their way into the Octagon and the annals of UFC history to pursue the sport.

UFC 1 also introduced people to a pair of fighters who would become synonymous with the sport and integral to its growth during the earlier years: Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. The former looked the part of who you would envision when picturing “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” with his chiseled physique and permanent steely glare, while the latter showed everyone, including Shamrock, that looks can be deceiving, as the smallest member of the Gracie family became the sport’s first superstar.

UFC 31 – May 4, 2001

If this one doesn’t make your list, I don’t know what to tell you. I know lists are subjective, but if you’re running down the biggest events in UFC history, how can you not include a card that featured:

(1) the UFC debut of “The Prodigy,” BJ Penn
(2) Shonie Carter’s infamous spinning backfist KO of Matt Serra
(3) Chuck Liddell knocking out former heavyweight champ Kevin Randleman in 78 seconds
(4) Carlos Newton ending Pat Miletich’s reign atop the welterweight division, and
(5) A heavyweight classic between Randy Couture and Pedro Rizzo?

Like I said, it’s your list, but if this card isn’t included, we can’t be friends.

UFC 87 – August 9, 2008

This may not be one that immediately jumps to mind for many people, but hear me out.

First, you had Georges St-Pierre beginning his second reign as welterweight champion, taking on a very dangerous Jon Fitch. Secondly, you had Brock Lesnar’s sophomore appearance in the Octagon against Heath Herring. Third, you had some skinny kid from upstate New York named Jon Jones making his debut.

Not only are those three of the biggest stars in UFC history, but this was the event that truly started each of them down the road to superstardom, even if we didn’t know Jones would ascend to the top of the light heavyweight division less than three years later. Why do I feel so confident including this event on this list? See below.

UFC 100 – July 11, 2009

Who won the final two fights on what stood for several years as the biggest, most successful Pay-Per-View event in UFC history? Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre. If things went differently in Minneapolis a year earlier, UFC 100 probably looks a lot different. (Note: Jones was on the card too; he choked out Jake O’Brien)

This is another one of those automatic selections because it was the company’s centennial show and it was a gigantic event in terms of buzz and media. But in addition to championship wins from Lesnar and GSP, it also included Dan Henderson iconic knockout of Michael Bisping, a great back-and-forth scrap between Yoshihiro Akiyama and Alan Belcher, plus a bunch of quality fights on the prelims too.

UFC 116 – July 3, 2010

A year after Lesnar snarled into the camera after beating Frank Mir to close out UFC 100, the heavyweight champion returned following his career-threatening bout with diverticulitis and paired off with Shane Carwin in one of the most thrilling heavyweight clashes in UFC history.

Along with Lesnar’s “survive and submit” performance against Carwin in the headliner, Chris Leben won his second fight in two weeks, a third-round submission win over “Sexyama,” Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski went toe-to-toe in what amounted to a continuation of their fun clash from UFC 110 and Ricardo Romero and Seth Petruzelli delivered eight minutes and five seconds of non-stop fun.

Gerald Harris also damn near slammed David Branch through the canvas as well.

UFC 129 – April 30, 2011

The first event in the province of Ontario was also (at the time) the biggest event in UFC history in terms of attendance, as more than 55,000 people packed the Rogers Centre in Toronto to see Georges St-Pierre defeat Jake Shields and Jose Aldo defend the featherweight title against Mark Hominick.

Those may have been the final two bouts on the card, but there were several other highlights as well, including Lyoto Machida going all “Daniel-San” on Randy Couture in the Hall of Famer’s final UFC appearance, veteran Vladimir Matyushenko scoring a 20-second knockout against Jason Brilz, John Makdessi channeling Shonie Carter with his spinning back fist KO of Kyle Watson and Pablo Garza starting the night with a flying triangle choke finish of Yves Jabouin.

Plus, the UFC production staff made terrific use of the giant screens over the cage and longer-than-normal walk the fighters had to make to get to the Octagon to deliver some unforgettable entrances.

UFC 189 – July 11, 2015

When more than 10,000 people turn up to the weigh-ins, you know you’ve got a special event on your hands. With the amount of anticipation that existed for this show, even the late switch from Jose Aldo to Chad Mendes wasn’t going to derail last year’s Fourth of July spectacular in Las Vegas, as the Irish turned out en masse and their charge, Conor McGregor, sent them home ecstatic after he stopped Mendes in the second round.

Of course, there was far more to this event than just McGregor’s interim title win.

Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald engaged in the best fight I’ve ever been privileged enough to watch from press row, Gunnar Nelson stormed through Brandon Thatch and both Jeremy Stephens and Thomas Almeida collected flying knee knockouts on the main card.

The ironic thing about UFC 189 is that the opening five bouts all went to the scorecards and it felt like the highly anticipated card was going to be a dud. It wasn’t. It was amazing.

UFC 194 – December 12, 2015

Five months after the Irish invaded Las Vegas to watch McGregor claim the interim title, they were back to see “The Notorious” one finally square off with Aldo, and after months of anticipation, it was over in 13 seconds.

Along with McGregor’s stunning stoppage of the long-reigning Brazilian, UFC 194 also featured Luke Rockhold winning the middleweight title from Chris Weidman, the highly competitive and controversial bout between Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza and dominant efforts from Demian Maia and Max Holloway.

While this wasn’t the final event of the year, it felt like a fitting wrap-up to what had been “The Year of McGregor,” as the Irish superstar completed his quest to claim featherweight gold and it set the stage for what seemed poised to be an exciting year in 2016.

UFC 200 – July 9, 2016

Card changes and controversy will forever be part of the story of UFC 200, but despite a rocky final road to this summer’s debut event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, this event remains one of the biggest, most successful cards in UFC history.

And it was still a very entertaining night of fights as well.

From the trio of first-round TKOs on the UFC FIGHT PASS portion of the card to dominant efforts by TJ Dillashaw, Kelvin Gastelum and Julianna Pena on the televised prelims, the main card had a quality lead-in and, despite all the changes, it didn’t disappoint.

Cain Velasquez looked terrific in rolling through Travis Browne, while Aldo rebounded from his loss to McGregor with an outstanding performance against Frankie Edgar. The return of Brock Lesnar electrified the crowd and then Amanda Nunes turned the women’s bantamweight division on its ear, again, by blistering Miesha Tate right out of the gate en route to wresting away the title with a first-round submission win.

UFC 202 – August 20, 2016

No list of the biggest events in UFC history would be complete without UFC 202.

After their first fight came together quickly and burned hot for two weeks straight, the rematch between McGregor and Nathan Diaz had a slow, steady build that reached a fever pitch by the time the two hit the Octagon to close out this show. McGregor got a measure of revenge, winning a unanimous decision over his rival from Stockton and the fans got a second outstanding fight from the two gutsy competitors.

They also got Anthony Johnson showing off his scary power with a 13-second knockout of Glover Teixeira, who previously hadn’t been finished in over a decade, Donald Cerrone going Street Fighter II on Rick Story, Cody “No Love” starching Takeya Mizugaki and calling out Dominick Cruz as the bantamweight champion watched from the broadcast booth and plenty more.

What makes your list? Join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages

No. 14-ranked middleweight Rafael „Sapo“ Natal hosted a Facebook live chat on Wednesday to talk about his fight at UFC 205 in new York City against Tim Boetsch at Madison Square Garden.

Natal is excited to be taking part in the greatest card ever assembled and he’s ready to fight.

Get ready for UFC 205: Fight card for Nov. 12 | Champions Alvarez, McGregor to headline historic card | Woodley-Wonderboy welterweight title clash set | Polish stars Jedrzejczyk, Kowalkiewicz perfect for NYC | Few tickets remain, buy now

Natal is 21-7-1 in his career with a 9-5-1 mark in the UFC. Sapo has won four of his last five and coming off a tough decision loss to rising star Robert Whittaker.

Natal spoke about his matchup against Boetsch and what he feels has improved the most since his last appearance at UFC 197. Watch the complete Facebook live chat at the top of the page.