V. Shevchenko (photo) defeated J. Andrade and retained the flyweight belt in UFC 261. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
Without fighting since June, when the Brazilian beat the Brazilian Taila Santos at UFC 275, the flyweight champion (up to 56,7 kg) Valentina Shevchenko She claimed that she hasn't received calls from the UFC with fight offers and that this has been bothering her. In an interview with Ultimate, the fighter says she is looking for a challenge and questioned the appearance of the category's challengers.
“I wanted to fight in December, but from what I imagine, it was difficult to find an opponent. I'm here, training all the time, almost every day, waiting for the call. I've been ready since then, I don't know, since September? I want to fight often, but I realize that this is a problem for the UFC. Finding opponents for me to fight often. My understanding is that everyone would love to fight for the title, so what's going on with you girls? Why so quiet?” asked the champion.
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With Manon Fiorot, first placed in the ranking, recovering from an injury, Valentina chose to challenge Alexa grasso, number five in the category, which comes from a victory over Viviane Araujo. For the athlete, March would be the ideal date for the fight.
“If she (Fiorot) can't fight, then Alexa, let's go. It's time. The champion is ready, so just bring everyone who is ready. March sounds like a really good time. It's already January and with all the holidays and New Year's, it's going to go by so quickly. March is a good time. It's perfect. And I would say I'm open to all opportunities. I like the idea of all these potential challengers,” said the fighter.
Having already defended her title seven times, the Kyrgyz woman wants to have one more confrontation in the category where she reigns, and then seek other challenges, such as the strawweight champion Weili Zhang and a trilogy against Amanda nunes.
“After this break, I would like to defend my belt once again to go to the next challenge. But yeah, I'm definitely ready for Amanda and Weili. Zhang put up a very good fight in his last fight. She's gotten stronger, and it's really interesting to watch her fight. I’m definitely open to fighting any of these girls,” said Shevchenko.
Since becoming champion, 2022 was the only year that Valentina only fought once. With a record of 23 wins and three losses, the athlete lost only to Amanda nunes in the UFC.
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