Valentina Shevchenko looks during Q&A session of Fan Experience at UFC Performance Institute on June 21, 2019 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Yifan Ding/Getty Images)
Valentina Shevchenko has been excellent since picking up the UFC Women’s Flyweight title
Chael Sonnen got into a big monologue of who the top fighter of 2020 should be. Marvin Vettori had laid down the ground work in all this by saying that he should be No.1 for his two wins and rise up the rankings.
However, the UFC legend wasn’t getting into that and brought up five other names that should be in the discussion.
Conor McGregor came fourth because of his gate receipts against Donald Cerrone. Khamzat Chimaev was third for being undefeated and becoming a main eventer from being an unknown.
Second was Stipe Miocic for finally burying the rivalry with Daniel Cormier and keeping his Heavyweight title.
First was Deiveson Figueiredo for his excellent title defences and dominating the division. While 2020 saw a lot of fights getting cancelled, Sonnen named one woman in his list.
That was Valentina Shevchenko. The Bullet defended her title twice and is undefeated since moving tot the Flyweight division.
However, Sonnen claimed the champion was getting better and that is why she should be in the top five fighters of 2020.
Shevchenko has also spoken about facing Amanda Nunes in a trilogy fight despite having lost the possibly the best female UFC fighter on the roster.
However, Sonnen started off by discussing what Shevchenko had done in 2020:
“She had two matches Nobody touched her, she lost one round, which was like shocking news.
“Her skills and her growth, not only on her feet, where she came in as a stand-up fighter, her skills on the ground, which haven’t been called into question, are getting better.
“You have a champion of the world who is getting better and now she’s trying actively to fight Amanda Nunes.”
Sonnen, however, didn’t believe that Shevchenko would be able to beat Nunes. The Bullet has been excellent and is only getting better and that was something that the UFC legend was happy to bring up:
“At a minimum she is trying to get tested. We can all admit she is a true competitor by even starting that dialogue.”
Shevchenko last fought Jennifer Maia and beat her comprehensively. It will be interesting to see what is next for The Bullet, but a battle against Nunes should be a big draw for the UFC.
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