The Bottom Line: Ruthless Progression

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.*** MMA has always been a sport where dynasties don’t last long. At the point a fighter is considered invincible, chances are good a fall is coming soon. However, there were exceptions: Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey and Jose Aldo. Today, not even the very best are safe. In division after division, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been thrown into chaos.Cain Velasquez was supposed to dominate the heavyweight division for years and then ran into Fabricio Werdum in Mexico City. Werdum didn’t make it through his first defense. Jones’ dominance in the cage never ended, but continued mistakes outside that cage have derailed his career. Chris Weidman’s middleweight title run came to an abrupt end at the hands of Luke Rockhold, who then dropped off his title to Michael Bisping. Rafael dos Anjos proved Anthony Pettis could be stopped, only to suffer the same fate against Eddie Alvarez. Aldo’s long reign was halted by Conor McGregor, who then proceeded to fall to Nate Diaz at 170 pounds in his next fight. It felt to some like Rousey’s title run would last forever. The women’s bantamweight championship has been a hot potato ever since that was proven to be false. When Jones’ suspension for a positive PED test is handed down, there will be only one dominant, longtime champion left: Demetrious Johnson. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is next in successful title defenses with three. Yet, in this inhospitable climate for champions comes opportunity. With so many short title runs, longer reigns …

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