Well, we ended up pretty much where we expected we would, though not in the way most would have guessed.
From the moment Ultimate Fighting Championship announced it would be introducing a women’s flyweight division, most observers saw Valentina Shevchenko as the queen-in-waiting, never mind that Season 26 of “The Ultimate Fighter” had been tapped to determine its inaugural champion. After all, Shevchenko had been a credible title contender at bantamweight in spite of being slightly undersized. It was an obvious, natural fit. However, the division tripped over its own feet right out of the starting blocks.