Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Then There Were Roses by Leesia Champion Then There Were Roses by Leesia Champion. In an interview with TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, UFC president Dana White said he believed UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is the greatest welterweight of all time. Usman has the longest win streak in welterweight history, and is tied with Tyron Woodley for title fight victories with four behind Matt Hughes’ nine and Georges St-Pierre’s twelve. White stated the reasoning behind his complimentary belief in Usman. “I just think that if you look at what this guy’s done, every time he fights, he looks better and better,” White said. “He’s literally fought everybody out there and now he’s going for a second run on these guys. And the fight with him and Colby Covington is one of the best fights I’ve ever seen.” While many would immediately point to Georges St-Pierre being the greatest welterweight of all time, White agreed with the fact that there are currently better contenders at the top of the division then there were when St-Pierre was champion. He also agreed with the notion that Usman could have been champion a long time ago had he been provided a title shot. Regardless, Usman will look to add to his legacy by successfully defending his title for a fifth time with a victory over no. 4 ranked contender Jorge Masvidal on April 24 at UFC 261. Usman and Masvidal headline UFC 261 on Saturday in a rematch. Usman defeated Masvidal at UFC 251 in July 2020, but Masvidal stepped in on extremely short notice and believes a full training camp will tip the scales in his favor. Iris (anime) Iris (Japanese: アイリス Iris ) is an aspiring Dragon Master and a former traveling companion of Ash who debuted in In the Shadow of Zekrom! . In Pokémon Journeys: The Series , she was revealed to have became the Champion of Unova. Contents. In the anime. History. Pre-series. Iris was born and raised in the Village of Dragons and would spend her time as a little girl playing with the wild Pokémon that lived in the forest just outside the village. She had learned to be quite skilled in tree climbing, as well as tending and caring to different Pokémon. As revealed in A Pokémon of a Different Color! , she originally did not like Dragon-type Pokémon, believing them to be scary. One day, she had taken shelter from a rainstorm in a cave and found an injured Druddigon that was initially hostile to her. However, after she treated its foot, it returned the favor by saving her from a Scolipede. Since then, she liked Dragon-type Pokémon. One day, sometime prior to her journey, she met a wild Drilbur that had injured a Patrat and had stolen its food. Angered, she sought justice for what the Drilbur had done and challenged him. After countless defeats, she finally managed to outmaneuver the Mole Pokémon and get him caught in some vines dangling just over a cliff. After coming to his rescue, the two became good friends and began training together. After many victories against different types of Trainers, Drilbur evolved into an Excadrill. The two then got the opportunity to meet Drayden, a Dragon Master, who praised Iris for her skill in battle. When he asked who was teaching her how to battle she responded that she was teaching herself with the help of the Pokémon she had befriended in the village. Brimming with confidence, she then challenged Drayden to a battle. However, Drayden's Haxorus was more powerful than Iris had anticipated and Excadrill was easily defeated. After suffering defeat and becoming distrustful of his Trainer (due to Iris pushing him to keep battling even though he knew it was a lost cause), Excadrill then closed himself off from Iris, rarely opening up, and never showing emotion. Not long after those events, Iris left for Opelucid City to attend school at the Opelucid Academy. When she was not in school, she stayed with Martha in a dorm. These were very difficult times for Iris, though. She struggled in school, and failed to make any friends or interact with any of the other students at the academy. Iris also didn't feel compatible with the urban city life. She tried to take her mind off the city by climbing the radio tower for a view of the mountains, but always got into trouble with Officer Jenny. All of these hardships in the city made her homesick, so she often spent her spare time writing to her friend Shannon. Eventually, after losing a battle at school, Iris could not stand this life anymore and dropped out, returning to the Village of Dragons. Years passed, and Iris was called upon by the village elder. She was to start a journey with a newly hatched Axew and raise him to become a full- fledged Haxorus. She accepted this trial, and set off on her journey, hoping to someday become a Dragon Master herself. Pokémon the Series: Black & White. Sometime after setting off on her journey, Iris witnessed a storm caused by Zekrom during the events of In The Shadow of Zekrom! . She missed actually encountering the Deep Black Pokémon, and continued on her journey, eventually meeting Ash Ketchum the very next day when he accidentally tried to catch her, thinking she was a Pokémon after he saw her hair sticking out of the bushes and scanned it with his Pokédex only to detect Axew. The two had a rocky start, often finding reasons to argue and occasionally calling each other names. However they kept each other company and Iris even stayed to watch his first Gym battle in Triple Leaders! Team Threats! . After the battle one of the Gym Leaders, Cilan, had decided to travel alongside Ash, and noted that the three of them make a good team. So Iris decided to officially become their traveling companion. In The Bloom Is on Axew! , Iris decided she would begin using her new friends to help train her Axew, so she asked Cilan to battle her to help get her started. It was then that she revealed her Axew knew Dragon Rage but hadn't yet mastered how to use it. She later opened up to Cilan and Ash and told them about her hometown, and how she got Axew in the first place. After she finished her story, the group realized Axew had gone missing, and found him stuck in the horns of a Scolipede. They failed to calm the raging Pokémon, so Iris called upon her Excadrill for help. Unfortunately, Excadrill was still closing himself off from Iris, but Excadrill still took care of the Scolipede after Iris had saved Axew herself, when the Scolipede kicked him into a boulder. With everything calmed down, Cilan approached Iris and reassured her to do things at her own pace and not worry too much, and that someday Axew and Excadrill will become even more powerful and loyal to her. In A Home for Dwebble! , she revealed that she knows how to make herbal remedies to heal sick Pokémon when Cilan's Pansage got hit with a rock and caught a fever. This skill became quite handy throughout her journey whenever the group was low on medication and too far from a Pokémon Center. In A Night in the Nacrene Museum! , she claimed that she has an acute "sixth sense" when she felt the presence of a spirit haunting the museum. It later turned out to be a Yamask who merely wanted its mask returned to it. However, she was still sure in her abilities in Sewaddle and Burgh in Pinwheel Forest! , when the group got lost in Pinwheel Forest. Iris got separated from the group in Emolga the Irresistible! after Axew tried to befriend a wild Emolga who had narrowly avoided being smothered by Bianca who had been accompanying the group after Ash won his third Badge. The three of them end up being attacked by a swarm of Swoobat and eventually rescued by Ash and Pikachu. The Emolga had grown fond of Iris and accepted her as her Trainer, earning Iris another Pokémon. In Emolga and the New Volt Switch! , Bianca offered to battle the newly caught Emolga, however things didn't go as planned when they found out that Emolga was fairly lazy and used Volt Switch to avoid battles. This did not discourage Iris too much as she accepted the challenge of raising Emolga to hopefully become a skilled battler. In The Dragon Master's Path! , the group met a young girl named Emmy who was having trouble with her Druddigon. Iris noticed the cause of the Pokémon's rage was a wire wrapped around its ankle, and managed to calm it down by removing it. Impressed with her knowledge of Dragon- type Pokémon, Emmy formally introduced herself and admitted to being a novice. Iris then offered to train her in the ways of Dragon-type Pokémon, and revealed her dream of becoming a Dragon Master some day. In Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! , Iris was challenged by Georgia, a Dragon Buster. Her Axew was easily defeated by Georgia's Beartic. Georgia criticized her for not owning more Dragon types and Iris decided to call on her Excadrill who still wouldn't obey her. Again, the battle resulted in a loss for Iris. She later explained that the resulting loss to Drayden when she was younger was what caused Excadrill to disobey her. However, Cilan soon pointed out to Iris that the loss wasn't the only factor and she might have missed how Excadrill was feeling in the heat of trying to win.