Valentina Shevchenko News

Chris Taylor - June 16, 2018

A women’s flyweight title fight featuring top contender Valentina Shevchenko taking on current division champion Nicco Montano is in the works for September’s UFC 228 event. “The Bullet” took to Twitter earlier today with the following message for Nicco Montano encouraging the current 125-pound champion to sign the fight agreement.

Drake Riggs - June 14, 2018

After constant harassment from fans on social media while recovering from a serious foot injury, the inaugural UFC flyweight champ is ready to make her first title defense. The champion, Nicco Montano announced the news on Instagram today that she is ready to defend her title against former 135-pound title challenger, Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko at UFC 228 on September 8th in Las Vegas.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

Valentina Shevchenko wants a shot at UFC flyweight champion Nicco Montano. That could not be any clearer. Unfortunately for her, the fight has proven a little difficult to put together. This, of course, is not the fault of Montano, who has been recovering from a tonsillectomy. Yet Shevchenko seems to be getting tired of waiting all the same, arguing that if Montano is not healthy enough to fight, she should drop the belt. “Not yet, we are not at that point [of Montano vacating the title],” Shevchenko said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Peter Carroll of MMA Fighting) “but I think it would be very right to do things like this because if you are not ready to fight, if you don’t want to fight, you have to leave the belt — you cannot hold it.

Tom Taylor - April 27, 2018

Earlier today, the UFC announced a slew of bouts for UFC on FOX 30, which goes down on July 28 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Though these announcements included news of a Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens featherweight co-main event, they did not include any news about the card’s main event. According to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, however, the promotion’s tentative plan is to top the card with a women’s flyweight title fight between long-absent inaugural champion Nicco Montano, and ferocious challenger Valentina Shevchenko.

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

UFC women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes and top flyweight contender Valentina Shevchenko have previously engaged in two competitive scraps, with Nunes’ emerging the victor by a narrow margin on both occasions. While the grounds for a third fight would certainly seem to be there as a result, this is not something Nunes is interested in. “I don’t care about [Shevchenko],” Nunes told MMAJunkie this week. “She’s, like, only Valentina. She’s going to talk about me. I’m the best, you know? That’s why she talks about me.”

Tom Taylor - March 20, 2018

Nicco Montano is the UFC women’s flyweight champion. She earned that distinction with a December decision defeat of Roxanne Modafferi. While Montano is the champion, however, many fans seem to consider flyweight contender Valentina Shevchenko the division’s best fighter. There are even some fans who believe Montano is avoiding Shevchenko. Speaking to KRQE earlier this month, Montano explained that this simply isn’t the case. She’s currently doing her best to heal up from a nasty foot injury, and his happy to defend against Shevchenko when she’s fighting fit.

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

It hasn’t been that long since Valentina Shevchenko’s absolute domination of Priscila Cachoeira at UFC Belem. It was her flyweight debut and she used that as an alarm siren to every 125-pound woman on the planet. She wasted no time at all calling out the champion Nicco Montano, but there has been nothing but crickets. She had since spoken to us about her impatience with Montano and now it seems it has reached a boiling point. Shevchenko scolds her in this recent interview and says it’s not becoming of a champion. “I heard that [Nicco Montano] already started to train, so I was thinking like, from now it’s about, like, how many months? Three, four months? It’s enough time to be in good shape and good preparation, so let’s see. Still, like, I haven’t heard too much from her, but I hope she will talk soon and hopefully she will accept because I don’t see another [option for an opponent], I just see my next fight for the title with Nicco. She won it a few months ago, but she has to move forward and she has to defend it. And like I said, there is no way to be so quiet and don’t say nothing.”

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2018

Back in early February, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Valentina Shevchenko made her anticipated debut in the new women’s flyweight division opposite Brazil’s Priscila Cachoeira. Shevchenko’s flyweight debut would go down as one of the most brutal beatdowns we’ve ever seen in the Octagon, as she absolutely mauled her outmatched foe to a second-round submission win. With this destructive win, Shevchenko erased any lingering doubt that she is the next woman in line for inaugural UFC flyweight champion Nicco Montano. The dangerous Kyrgyzstani fighter has absolutely earned her shot, the only question is when that shot occurs.

Drake Riggs - February 8, 2018

“I think i’m one or two fights away [from a title shot]. I think [Valentina] Shevchenko will fight for the title next and I would like to fight her for the title. So however many I need to have between now and then, that’s what i’m working towards 100%.

Drake Riggs - February 8, 2018

When you bring up the discussion of best female flyweight fighters in the world today, very few if any will say that Invicta FC champion, Jennifer Maia isn’t #1. The Curitiba, Brazil native, Maia has defended her title twice and is currently on a six-fight winning streak that includes wins over Vanessa Porto, Agnieszka Niedzwiedz, and Roxanne Modaferri. Around the time that the UFC was ready to crown their inaugural 125-pound champion after a season of The Ultimate Fighter, Maia was ready to defend her title the week after. As one might imagine, Maia should have been a part of the tournament to decide the UFC’s first flyweight champion. Instead, Maia turned down the offer to participate on the show and as she told MMAFighting, it was for a pretty understandable reason:

Jason Kindschy - February 8, 2018

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT! 8:15PM ET- Our guest for the evening is “Bullet” Valentina Shevchenko. Following what can only be described as one of the most dominant wins in recent MMA history over Priscila Cachoeria this past weekend, Valentina has been the hottest topic in the combat sports headlines. With this impressive and authoritative victory, Shevchenko claimed the No. 1 spot in the women’s flyweight rankings and struck fear into the hearts of everyone in the division. Now eyeing gold in her new weight class, we’ll recap her incredible performance and discuss the looming title fight against current champ, Nicco Montano. Valentina will also share her thoughts on the backlash against referee Mario Yamasaki for not stopping the fight earlier, what she has planned for the remainder of 2018, and the likelihood that she battles Amanda Nunes once again before the end of the year. All that and much more with “Bullet!”

Tom Taylor - February 8, 2018

Referee Mario Yamasaki might the most unpopular man in MMA right now. The MMA community brought out the torches and pitchforks after he let Valentina Shevchenko brutalize the grossly outmatched Priscila Cachoeira for far longer than necessary last Saturday, and the backlash hasn’t stopped since. Of all the people to criticize Yamasaki, none did so with more ferocity than UFC President Dana White, who went so far as to promise we’ll never see the referee again.

Justin Golightly - February 7, 2018

There has been a lot on mixed opinions and controversy since Valentina Shevchenko’s domination against Priscila Cachoeira at UFC Belem. So much so, that Shevchenko’s amazing performance has taken a back seat to referee and corner criticism. Rose Namajunas has put in many hours with ‘The Bullet’ so she was watching the fight closely. She recently opened up about her thoughts on if they fight should have been stopped or not. If it was her? She definitely would have wanted the towel threw in. “That [late stoppage is] a touchy subject. I think clearly you saw that [Priscila Cachoeira] wasn’t going to improve her position [against Valentina Shevchenko]. So, you could definitely make the argument for that was a little too long.  […] I told my corner [Trevor Whitman] that if I’m lookin’ like that in a fight, the just throw in the towel for me, but that’s my personal choice. Those strikes on the canvas – in certain positions they weren’t that bad – but when you’re in full mount and somebody is raining down punches on you, your head is hitting the canvas too so it’s like double impact.”

Tom Taylor - February 6, 2018

Over the weekend, Brazilian fighter Priscila Cachoeira experienced a brutal beatdown at the hands of Valentina Shevchenko, absorbing a brain-rattling 230 strikes en route to a second-round submission loss. In the wake of this lopsided and bloody contest, many fans, pundits and UFC personalities have argued that referee Mario Yamasaki should have stopped the fight far earlier than he did.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2018

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko could not have been more impressive in her Saturday night flyweight debut, out-landing her opponent Priscila Cachoeira by a 230-3 margin en-route to a second-round submission win. Regrettably, much of the buzz surrounding this fight has been negative, as the widespread perception is that referee Mario Yamasaki let this one-sided beatdown go on for far longer than it should have. Priscilla Cachoeira, you showed so much heart and toughness in that fight. I’m honored to have you fight in the UFC. Unfortunately the ref is there to protect you and Mario DID NOT do that. This isn’t his first disgusting performance in the octagon. Another unfortunate thing is that i can’t do anything about I️t only the Brazilian commission can and i am hoping after this scary, incompetent showing he hopefully will never set foot in that Octagon again. Strikes landed was 230-3.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2018

Over the weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s trip to Belem, Brazilian flyweight Priscila Cachoeira stepped into the Octagon for the first time. Despite the fact she was making her UFC debut with just 8 pro fights behind her, her opponent was the vastly more experienced Valentina Shevchenko, who is widely regarded as one of the best female fighters on earth. In the end, Cachoeira’s experiential deficit manifested itself in a truly lopsided win for Shevchenko. The Kyrgyzstani contender out-landed her young Brazilian by an insane 230-3 margin en route to a second-round submission win. It was one of the most brutal beatdowns to hit our screens in a long, long time.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Belem, Brazil, former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko made her debut in the new UFC women’s flyweight division opposite Brazil’s Priscila Cachoeira. The fight was a downright mugging. From the opening bell, Shevchenko was an absolute predator, feasting on her opponent en route to a lopsided, second-round submission victory.

Chris Taylor - February 3, 2018

UFC Fight Night 125 Results: Valentina Shevchenko destroys Priscila Cachoeira Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko made her flyweight debut at tonight’s UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil against Priscila Cachoeira.