It’s rather telling that Valentina Shevchenko continues to be asked about who she’ll be fighting next, even before facing her most recent opponent.
But that’s what happens when you’re a champion as dominant as “Bullet,” who has rarely been tested since moving to 125lbs in 2018.
At Thursday’s UFC 261 pre-fight press conference, Shevchenko (20-3) told media outlets that in her fight with Jessica Andrade, “it’s the same goal. To prove that I’m the best. To show the best fight, show the best techniques, show the best that I can. And this is the same goal that I have all the time, every time. To prove that I’m the real champion for a long time here at flyweight.”
The question, however, had been about who would come after Andrade. The winner of Joanne Calderwood vs. Lauren Murphy? A superfight with Weili Zhang? As if former strawweight champion and bantamweight contender Andrade was just another jewel on the champ’s belt.
“I think UFC [President] Dana [White] has a lot of things happening in his mind. I just keep fighting,” responded Shevchenko, who will be looking for title defense number five on Saturday. “I just keep fighting everyone who is going to be in front of me. Another challenger at flyweight, that’s fine. Something else, someone else, that’s fine too.”
Later on Thursday, Andrade was asked about what Shevchenko’s previous opponents had done wrong. The Brazilian suggested they showed to champ too much respect, in the fight itself. Andrade, while respecting the champ outside the cage, will not do that when the door closes.
In response, Shevchenko suggested that “what you think before the fight is one [thing], but when the door is closed, it’s totally different. Totally different power, totally different feeling.”
“Having respect is good, but I will go for dominance. I will dominate this fight. This is my mindset,” she continued. “I was training for this all the time. I know for sure that if I see a hole where I can finish the fight, definitely I will do it.”
UFC 261 takes place this Saturday, April 24 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card airs live on PPV.
