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Opinion: When Chaos is OK
- Updated: August 3, 2016
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.* * * Perhaps the most unanimously beloved championship domino fell when Robbie Lawler was knocked out at UFC 201 on Saturday in Atlanta. Prior to that, it seemed like no division was safe. Starting with Holly Holm’s win over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, every division except light heavyweight, flyweight and women’s strawweight has seen varying degrees of championship reshuffling. Conor McGregor dethroned longtime featherweight king Jose Aldo; Dominick Cruz reclaimed his bantamweight title from reigning champ T.J. Dillashaw; Stipe Miocic shocked undisputed heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum in Brazil; Michael Bisping upset Luke Rockhold in spectacular fashion; and Eddie Alvarez put a beatdown on Rafael dos Anjos. Now, Tyron Woodley can add his name to that list. The only three divisions not affected by this have basically been held steady by all-time talents — Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Demetrious Johnson and, with all due respect to Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones. I know, Jedrzejczyk hasn’t done enough yet to be grouped in such company, but consider this my prediction that she’s on her way. It is indeed a turbulent time to be a UFC champion. Although some weight classes, like lightweight and heavyweight, are historically unkind to prolonged title reigns, others have been defined by distinct championship eras. Coincidentally, welterweight is probably the most dynastic division: Other than blips of Carlos Newton, B.J. Penn and Matt Serra, 170 pounds has been the weight class of long reigns. Pat Militich had his four-defense title run; Matt Hughes had two separate title reigns, one with five defenses and the other with two; and of course, we probably don’t need to say much about George St. Pierre, who dominated to the extent that we’re simply enjoying the post-GSP era right now. Woodley had a great performance against Lawler, but he’s at least another three wins away from the starting line of that conversation. So what’s the state of things amid the title …
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