Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan punches Jennifer Maia of Brazil in their women's flyweight championship bout during the UFC 255 event at UFC APEX on November 21, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Valentina Shevchenko took five rounds to defeat Jennifer Maia but already has two names in her head for her next fight
Valentina ‘The Bullet’ Shevchenko made it her fourth straight successful UFC Flyweight title defence at UFC 255.
She came in as the heavy favourite for this clash against Jennifer Maia but was caught out by the Brazilian in the first two rounds.
However, Shevchenko’s game plan worked well in the final three rounds as she dominated her opponent. The Bullet celebrated another big win in her career and seems to be unstoppable.
She also had time to speak about who could be her next rival after the fight and named two stars that could do the job.
The champion was asked about Jessica Andrade but she claimed that a fight between Andrade and Lauren Murphy could be the smart move.
Shevchenko added that she couldn’t choose her rivals and it will be interesting to see who is next for her.
Murphy certainly wants a crack at the title and even called out Dana White for not giving her props. White claimed that Andrade vs Shevchenko would make sense but Murphy wasn’t pleased with that.
However, Murphy was pleased with Shevchenko calling her name during the post-fight conference, and the ball seems to be in the UFC’s court regarding this.
Andrade is a former UFC Strawweight Champion but she is ranked #1 in the Women’s Flyweight division. She defeated Katlyn Chookagian in her Flyweight debut and this could be a great clash to make.
Murphy is a former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion and ranked #5 in the Flyweight division. However, the 37-year-old is on a four-fight win streak and has defeated Andrea Lee and Roxanne Modafferi in those outings.
More UFC news
Mike Perry rounds off horrible UFC 255 with wrong walkout music and possible broken nose
Jack Hermansson believes he has one distinct advantage over Israel Adesanya
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
