UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will be making a quick turnaround as she has agreed to face Joanne Calderwood at UFC 251 on June 6.
Breaking: Valentina Shevchenko’s (@BulletValentina) next title defense will come against Joanne Calderwood (@DRkneevil) at UFC 251 on June 6. Both sides have agreed to the fight, per sources. More details coming to ESPN shortly. pic.twitter.com/PkjiYdnn0D
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 20, 2020
UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is wasting no time in returning to action as she is set to defend her title once again, less than two weeks after her most recent title defense. Brett Okamoto of ESPN was the first to report that Shevchenko will take on flyweight contender Joanne Calderwood on June 6 at what is scheduled to be UFC 251.
“Bullet” has been nothing short of fantastic since dropping down to flyweight in 2018. In the past year and a half she has turned away formidable competition such as former strawweight champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Liz Carmouche, Katlyn Chookagian and Jessica Eye. Most recently, she scored a third round stoppage in a throttling performance over Chookagian less than two weeks ago at UFC 247 in Houston.
Joanne “Jojo” Calderwood has been with the UFC since 2014 where she entered the promotion through The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 where she was part of Anthony Pettis’ team and competed for the chance to be the inaugural strawweight champion in the UFC. Calderwood made the move up to flyweight when the division opened and has victories over the likes of former title challenger Valerie Letourneau, former KSW champion Ariane Lipski, and Andrea Lee. Her most recent fight was against Lee last September.
The location and venue for UFC 251 have not officially been announced, although it will likely take place in Australia per Okamoto.
