Attempting to land a seventh consecutive successful defense of her UFC flyweight title this weekend in Singapore, Valentina Shevchenko has been touted by promotional president Dana White as that much of a force to be reckoned with, that the flyweight division appears weak.
Shevchenko, a native of Kyrgyzstan, is set to headline UFC 275 this weekend in Singapore – standing opposite Brazilian contender, Taila Santos as she attempts to continue her prolonged period of supremacy at 125lbs.
Landing in the division with a brutally one-sided knockout win over Priscila Cachoeira, Shevchenko, who previously competed for bantamweight gold, defeated former kickboxing rival, one-time strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk to land the vacant flyweight title back in December 2018.
Embarking on a remarkable run at flyweight since then, Shevchenko had knocked back Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, Katlyn Chookagian, Jennifer Maia, Jessica Andrade, and Lauren Murphy as champion – recording six successful title defenses.
Valentina Shevchenko has landed an unbeaten 8-0 record since her flyweight move
The clear outlier at 125lbs, UFC president, Dana White has defended the status and the viewing of competition at flyweight, explaining how Shevchenko just makes her competition and the division appear weak as a whole due to her ability.
“What Valentina (Shevchenko) has accomplished, what Anderson (Silva) did during his reign, the list goes on and on,” Dana White told The Underground reporter, John Morgan, ahead of UFC 275. “That’s exactly what happens, people say the division is weak, no. Valentina Shevchenko is so good, she makes the division look weak.”
Linked with a slew of potential future matchups at flyweight, Shevchenko has also welcomed the opportunity to fight for undisputed bantamweight gold before the end of this year in a bid to become a two-weight champion – with eyes focused on July’s title rematch between former opponents, Julianna Pena, and Amanda Nunes.