New York, NY — UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko earned another win, another defense of her UFC title when she handily defeated ex-strawweight champ Weili Zhang at UFC 322 on Saturday.
Shevchenko (26-4-1) tied the record for most UFC title fight wins among women, at 11, with her performance at Madison Square Garden. The only other fighter on the women’s side of the promotion to have hit that number is Amanda Nunes, who is set to return from retirement sometime next year.
Nunes is a name that could be on Shevchenko’s mind down the road. Another war to prepare for, the same way she prepared for Zhang. Though a war is not what she got, winning all five rounds on all three scorecards, triplicate 50-45 scores in the end.
“I was preparing for a war. I even took all my anti-inflammatory pills with me, because I didn’t know how I was going to walk out of the octagon,” Shevchenko said following the bout, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press on hand in New York.
Shevchenko didn’t expect an easy fight, even after the bout had started. “During the fight, from the begging to the end, I could not let myself be very sure. ‘Oh it’s going great, and I can relax now.’ No, because I’m fighting with the highest-level opponent, Weili, and she’s highest-level opponent, very dangerous in every moment. And knowing she has this knockout power, one punch, when I saw I had several body kicks, it’s kind of like ‘yeah one more and that’s gonna be it.’ But then you have to remember, if you approach too early, too soon, there is a punch that is going to hit you very hard, and you might be finished on the ground, on the floor. And you don’t want to do that.”
There are a lot of options moving forward for Valentina Shevchenko, who is on her second reign as UFC women’s flyweight champ. Her trilogy with Alexa Grasso behind her (though technically tied 1-1-1 thanks to a draw in their second encounter, there seems to be little appetite for a fourth bout), it’s either a blossoming flyweight contender, or a more established name at bantamweight next. Shevchenko started her UFC run at 135lbs, and fought for a title there. Kayla Harrison, for one, has suggested fighting Shevchenko at the White House next year.
“I think it’s one of the possibilities, yes. And I’ll consider that,” Shevchenko said in response to the idea that she face the current UFC women’s bantamweight champ on what is expected to be a historic card. First up, however, she wants to heal up. “For now, I want to take care of injuries that I have, that are kind of migrating from training camp to training camp with me. But after maybe a week or something like that, we’ll have our conversation with my team, with my coach Pavel, and decide what is next. Because I feel there are good challengers in flyweight as well. Erin [Blanchfield], Natalia [Silva]. And bantamweight, now with have Amanda or Kayla.”
Blanchfield earned a submission victory of her own at UFC 322, in a rematch with Tracy Cortez. Whether she did enough to leapfrog Natalia Silva, who holds the #2 spot in the weight class behind Manon Fiorot, remains to be seen. Shevchenko, however, is aware that the fanbase would like to see her fight bigger names, especially coming out of a super-fight with Zhang. Harrison, or a third fight with Amanda Nunes, are the obvious options.
“I would say probably fans would love to see Amanda trilogy, because it’s unfinished business,” noted Shevchenko. “But at the same time, it’s unclear yet, is she returning or not returning, is she fighting or not fighting? And also it’s unknown in what shape she’s going to return. Half Amanda, or maybe full Amanda, who knows? Kayla is also one of the possibilities, and it’s going to be another super-challenge.”
Watch the full UFC 322 post-fight press conference with Valentina Shevchenko above.
