Opinion: Long Reigns May Be Extinct in the UFC

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship was turned on its head at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. The only men’s champions with successful defenses under their belts during their current stays atop their respective divisions, Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili, saw their reigns end in surprising fashion. It left Valentina Shevchenko as the longest-reigning current champion in the promotion.

For those of us who have been following the sport for a while, these are indeed strange times. We grew…