Valentina Shevchenko with the 6th ruby
UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko has set her sights on the ‘Double Champ’ status, after she gets past Taila Santos at UFC 275
UFC’s first-ever Asian PPV card in Singapore will feature a flyweight clash between the dominant champion Valentina Shevchenko and Taila Santos. Shevchenko has been on a rampant run, and in many people’s view is the best female fighter in the world currently.
Shevchenko has wiped out any and every competition the UFC has presented her with, which puts her in a weird conundrum much like her male counterparts, Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya. Although Santos poses her own set of threats to the champion, MMA experts believe that it will be a cakewalk for her.
Shevchenko follows a systematic path to victory every time she steps inside the octagon, with ice in her veins and a cold-blooded assassins’ mentality. Shevchenko has faced the current featherweight and former bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes twice, and most probably won the second fight convincingly, although the judges scored it otherwise.
Nunes will face Julianna Pena in a rematch from her UFC 269 clash, when the Venezuelan pulled out one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Shevchenko stated that the most viable option should he win at UFC 275 would be a jump to bantamweight to challenge for the ‘Double Champ’ status.
“I think so [there’s a chance I fight at bantamweight next]. There is always the chance. Definitely the bigger fight, the better. Yes, I think by the end of the year it’s going to be a huge fight. But also, we have to see Miesha Tate is coming to flyweight in July, so many things can happen and many things can change. I think it’s possible, it’s very very possible.”
Valentina Shevchenko continued, “I think it’s just on standby, before July. This is where they booked the rematch. I think it’s inevitable. Or if [Amanda Nunes loses] it will be Julianna Pena. We fought Julianna a few years ago, I submitted her with an armbar, and now people are definitely bringing up her name more frequently.”
Between 2012 to 2017, the flyweight division of the UFC was reigned by Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, who defended his throne a whopping 11 times. Once the best P4P fighter in the world, he holds the record for most title defenses inside the UFC across any weight class.
Johnson eclipsed the 10 title defense set by the legendary Anderson Silva, and has since moved to the One Championship where he competes now.
‘Mighty Mouse’ appeared on the recent episode of ‘The MMA Hour’ with Ariel Helwani, and spoke about a few fighters who in his opinion can break the record he set.
“I think the only people who are close to beating that are: Valentina Shevchenko — she continues to impress me every time she steps into the octagon — Kamaru Usman, [and] Israel Adesanya,”
Considering the current landscape of MMA and taking into consideration the title defenses of these fighters so far, it looks like Valentina Schevchenko has the best chance at breaking this record. She is currently at 6 title defenses and will most likely face Taila Santos in a quest for her seventh defense.
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