Valentina Shevchenko News

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko says she is open to a trilogy fight with her rival, UFC double champion Amanda Nunes. Shevchenko is currently getting ready to defend the women’s 125lbs belt against top contender Lauren Murphy at UFC 266 next Saturday night. Should Shevchenko win that fight, it would be her eighth win in a row in the flyweight division, and the calls for her to move back up to bantamweight and fight Nunes again will be high. After all, Shevchenko was one of the only UFC fighters who has ever given problems to Nunes. Although Nunes holds two wins over Shevchenko, the second fight was a split decision that some people that Shevchenko won, and so a trilogy fight seems like something that could happen.

Adam D Martin - September 17, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko defended the UFC ring card girls following the comments by Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov recently had some negative things to say about MMA ring card girls, essentially suggesting that they are pointless. That led to a number of the ring card girls, such as Arianny Celeste and Brittany Palmer, coming to their own defense, not to mention there have been other fighters who have disagreed with Nurmagomedov for his opinion. One of those fighters is Shevchenko, who did not agree at all with the recent comments that Nurmagomedov made. As far as Shevchenko goes, Nurmagomedov is wrong.

Adam D Martin - July 15, 2021

Cynthia Calvillo is confident she has what it takes to beat the champ Valentina Shevchenko, but she can’t say the same about Lauren Murphy. Calvillo returns to the Octagon at UFC 266 when she takes on former title challenger Jessica Andrade, and on the same card, Shevchenko puts the UFC women’s flyweight title on the line against Murphy. It stands to reason that Calvillo could potentially earn the next title shot against the winner of Shevchenko vs. Murphy if she defeats Andrade. If you ask Calvillo, that is going to be Shevchenko, because she doesn’t see Murphy winning the fight.

Harry Kettle - July 14, 2021

UFC 266 is set to feature two championship showdowns in addition to a highly anticipated five-round non-title rematch. The September 25 pay-per-view card was always set to be something of a barnburner given the many rumors that have been flooding out in recent weeks, and now, it appears as if we could be in for one of the best events of the year.

Adam D Martin - July 1, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko explained how Julianna Pena can defeat women’s double champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 265. Shevchenko and Pena fought at UFC on FOX 23 and Shevchenko won the fight in the second round by armbar, so they are very familiar with one another. Pena will next step into the Octagon this summer when she fights Nunes for her UFC bantamweight championship. Not surprisingly, Pena is the underdog at the sportsbooks and very few fans are giving her a chance to pull off the upset against Nunes, who is universally regarded as the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time. But Shevchenko thinks there’s a chance.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he is not committed to giving Lauren Murphy a title shot against flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko next. Murphy defeated Joanne Calderwood via split decision on the UFC 263 preliminary card for her fifth win in a row, and she wants to fight for the belt next. Murphy hasn’t fought the champion Shevchenko yet so it would be a fresh fight, and based on her five-fight win streak it’s hard to ignore what she has been doing in the division. But as far as the UFC bossman White is concerned, he isn’t sure what he wants to do yet with Murphy.

Drake Riggs - May 3, 2021

Tatiana Suarez’s days at 115-pounds may be behind her. After seeing how the last UFC flyweight title bout played out, the dominant wrestler likes her chances against one of the sport’s very best. Having not competed since June 2019 due to lingering injuries, the undefeated 8-0 season 23 winner of The Ultimate Fighter is now feeling a move to flyweight could be in her future. Therefore making the ultimate goal a showdown with reigning queenpin, Valentina Shevchenko.

Adam D Martin - May 3, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is confident that the trilogy fight against her rival Amanda Nunes will happen one day. The calls for a trilogy between Shevchenko and Nunes are high after “Bullet” ran through Jessica Andrade in her last outing at UFC 261. Since moving down to flyweight, Shevchenko is a perfect 7-0, with a 6-0 record in flyweight title fights. The UFC is having trouble finding opponents for Shevchenko as she has been blowing everyone she fights out of the water. The only trouble she has ever had in her UFC career was against Nunes, and thus fans want to see them fight again. The two rivals previously met in 2016 and 2017, with Nunes winning a unanimous decision at UFC 196 and a split decision at UFC 215.

Adam D Martin - April 26, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he is not interested in booking a trilogy fight between UFC champions Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko and Nunes have fought twice previously, with the Brazilian winning both times, the first time via unanimous decision and the second time via split decision. Though Nunes is 2-0 over Shevchenko, many fans feel as though Nunes got her toughest tests in those fights. With Shevchenko running through the field at 125lbs with another finish over Jessica Andrade at UFC 261, there have been suggestions that she could fight Nunes for a third time. However, White doesn’t have much interest in doing that fight anytime soon.

Cole Shelton - April 26, 2021

The UFC returned to a full capacity crowd on Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida for UFC 261. The card saw three title fights as Kamaru Usman rematched Jorge Masvidal, Weili Zhang took on Rose Namajunas, and Valentina Shevchenko battled Jessica Andrade. The event was one of the better ones in recent memory and one title ended up changing hands. In the main event, Usman defended his belt with a second-round KO over Masvidal. Namajunas became the strawweight champ with a first-round KO over Zhang, and to no surprise, Shevchenko defended her strap with a TKO win over Andrade.

Chris Taylor - April 24, 2021

Tonight’s UFC 261 event featured a women’s flyweight title fight featuring reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko taking on Jessica Andrade. Shevchenko (21-3 MMA) was looking to earn her fifth-straight title defense with a victory over Andrade this evening in Jacksonville. ‘The Bullet’ had most previously competed at November’s UFC 255 event, where she earned a unanimous decision victory over submission ace Jennifer Maia.

Chris Taylor - April 24, 2021

Tonight’s UFC 261 event features a women’s flyweight title fight featuring reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko taking on Jessica Andrade. Shevchenko (20-3 MMA) will be looking to earn her fifth-straight title defense with a victory over Andrade this evening in Jacksonville. ‘Bullet’ was most recently seen in action at November’s UFC 255 event, where she earned a unanimous decision victory over submission ace Jennifer Maia.

Cole Shelton - April 22, 2021

In the first of three title fights at UFC 261, Valentina Shevchenko looks to defend her flyweight belt against Jessica Andrade. Heading into the fight, Shevchenko is a -455 favorite with the challenger being a +340 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros are nearly unanimous in thinking Valentina Shevchenko gets it done, with most thinking she gets the TKO win.

Harry Kettle - April 21, 2021

The UFC returns to pay-per-view once again this weekend with an arena full of fans in Jacksonville at UFC 261, headlined by Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal 2. Event: UFC 261: Usman vs Masvidal 2 Date: Saturday, 24th April 2021 Location: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida Broadcast: ESPN+ – 5.45pm/8pm/10pm EST

Adam Martin - March 12, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko says she’s in no rush for a superfight against women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang. Shevchenko takes on top contender Jessica Andrade in the co-main event of UFC 261, which takes place on April 24 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. On the same card, Zhang takes on Rose Namajunas in the main event.

Adam Martin - February 24, 2021

The betting odds have been released for the upcoming UFC 261 women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade. This long-rumored battle between elite women’s flyweight fighters will finally take place on April 24 at UFC 261, though the location and venue are yet-to-be-determined. What we do know is that Shevchenko and Andrade, the champion and the No. 1 contender in the UFC women’s flyweight division, will square off with UFC gold on the line. With the fight booked, the sportsbooks have released the betting odds for this matchup (h/t BetOnline).

Adam Martin - January 31, 2021

Jessica Andrade says she is planning on fighting UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko sometime later this spring. After defeating Katlyn Chookagian in her 125lbs debut last fall on Fight Island, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Andrade would be next in line for Shevchenko after she took out Jennifer Maia at UFC 255. So far, we have not heard much in the way of progress in booking this fight, but Team Andrade is hoping to get some good news soon. Speaking to AG Fight, Andrade’s coach Gilliard Parana said they want to fight Shevchenko this fall, but would take another fight if the UFC decides on it.

Adam Martin - November 30, 2020

Top contender Jessica Andrade dropped a timeline for a potential fight against UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in 2021. Andrade, the former UFC women’s strawweight champion, made her flyweight debut back at UFC Fight Island 6 in October and knocked out former title challenger Katlyn Chookagian with a nasty body shot. UFC president Dana White praised Andrade following the fight and hinted that she could be next in line to fight Shevchenko. Thus far that fight has not been booked but it appears it’s the direction the UFC is headed.