Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC fan favorite, Joanne Calderwood, will compete for the promotion’s flyweight title when she battles Valentina Shevchenko in the upcoming UFC 251 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event on Sat., June 6, 2020 inside RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
“JoJo” (14-4) already knows that she’s a massive underdog against “Bullet” and has considered keeping herself offline, to avoid those inevitable hot takes on Twitter about how badly Shevchenko (19-3) is going to beat her ass “Down Under.”
“I might have to stay off the Internet because there’s a lot of ‘oh man, [Shevchenko is] unbeatable’ and ‘JoJo’s going to get her ass beat’ or whatever it is,” Calderwood told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (transcribed by BJPenn.com). “There’s that doubt in everyone’s mind, but [Shevchenko] has earned that. She’s put herself there. I’m going to put my head down and work my ass off and show up on the night.”
Shevchenko has made it hard to pick against her after mowing down most of the flyweight division, to the tune of five straight wins with three violent finishes. By comparison, Calderwood went 2-1 in 2019 with all three contests going to the judges’ scorecards.
As it stands, there doesn’t seem to be a bevy of title contenders at 125 pounds. Calderwood is currently ranked No. 3, behind Katlyn Chookagian and Jessica Eye, both of whom were pieced by the speeding “Bullet” in recent fights.