Las Vegas, NV – Former UFC flyweight Valentina Shevchenko maintains that she made a mistake in her last bout that cost her the title against current champion Alexa Grasso in their last fight, but she looks to right the wrongs at Noche UFC on Saturday night.
“First of all, watching (the) fight back, I would say I was winning (the whole) fight. From the first round, except the last moment of the first round, and right now what is my mindset and my focus, I won’t go back to the March (fight),” Shevchenko told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“I won’t go back and think about what happened there. I did it already. I did it through all my training camp. I did it for all these months, and right now I’m a person who’s motivated. Who is like get rid of (those) feelings that (were) back then in March.”
The former champion was adamant that she’s not looking back to their first fight at UFC 285 where Grasso finished her to win the title. The lessons have been learned and implemented into this fight at Noche UFC.
“What I had to take from the fight I already took. Now it’s all this strong energy, positive energy, like no mercy. Go to the end,” she said.
“I would say I have no choice (but to be more ruthless)”
Shevchenko sounded like Drago from Rocky 4 with her demeanor. Losing is not an option for her. She is not focusing on the ground game that lost her the fight last time, or the stand up for which she’s known, it’s about every part of her game at Noche UFC.
“Everything. It’s MMA. There is no one thing. Many fights that people watch and you can see fighters focus on grappling sometimes they just land with a strike and look confused. That’s why in MMA you cannot focus on one thing,” she said.
Should Bullet emerge victorious at Noche UFC on Saturday night there is a strong possibility, with the score tied 1-1, that the two flyweights will meet one more time to settle the rivalry. It’s not something that Shevchenko is focused on just yet.
“For me right now I’m not thinking about anything (beyond) this Saturday,” said Shevchenko.
“For me there is only one day that is my future. It’s Saturday, September 16, and this is only one fight. After that yeah I will think about whatever is coming to my mind, but right now only this date, only this victory.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Valentina Shevchenko above. She challenges Alexa Grasso for the flyweight title at Noche UFC on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
