Michael Bisping calls Valentina Shevchenko’s win ‘safe’ and ‘not entertaining’

Pro fighters weren’t afraid to give their take on last Saturday’s UFC Uruguay bouts, and that includes Michael Bisping. The former middleweight champion described Valentina Shevchenko’s performance in the main event as a “safe” and “not exciting.”

Valentina Shevchenko put her flyweight title on the line against Liz Carmouche at UFC Uruguay. The pair first fought in 2010 when Carmouche beat Shevchenko via second-round TKO. “The Bullet” vindicated her loss and secured a unanimous decision win, but Bisping wasn’t blown away by the contest.

“It wasn’t the most entertaining, action-packed fight,” said Bisping on his Believe You Me podcast.

“The problem for Shevchenko is that she was so amazing in her last fight, people were kind of expecting another stunning knockout… On paper when you break it down, Shevchenko’s supposed to smoke her all day long. That’s what everyone was expecting.”

Michael Bisping believes the fight simply didn’t live up to expectation. He credits Shevchenko for being a smart opponent, a cerebral fighter who’s primary focus was defending her title and self-preservation, but feels this impacted the  action.

“[Carmouche] was a little hesitant to really get inside the pocket so she wasn’t landing much. And Shevchenko, her game plan was to let Carmouche come to her and then counter but Carmouche wasn’t doing that.”

“Could [Shevchenko] have done more? 100%. Was it a classic performance? No? Was it a performance that she’s not overly proud of? Perhaps. But was it truly dominant performance? Yes, it was,” said Bisping.

Michael Bisping went on to compare the fight to Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia. He sees it as a fight that won’t damage Shevchenko’s legacy but won’t benefit it either.

“Shevchenko, well done, a very successful title defence. Not the most stunning, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Do you agree with this analysis from Michael Bisping?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/13/2019.