Valentina Shevchenko’s next defense of her UFC women’s flyweight title will be in South America.
UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko’s next title defense will see her try to avenge the first loss of her professional MMA career.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported on Tuesday that Shevchenko is set to face Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC Uruguay in Montevideo on August 10th. There had been talks to have Shevchenko fight Carmouche at next month’s UFC San Antonio, but that obviously never materialized. Carmouche had been scheduled to face Roxanne Modafferi on that event, but now the UFC is looking for a replacement opponent for Modafferi.
Shevchenko (17-3) is coming off a second-round KO of Jessica Eye at UFC 238 earlier this month. A native of Kyrgyzstan who now resides in Peru, Shevchenko won the vacant women’s flyweight belt last year with a decision victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231. Her first career loss came against Carmouche by doctor’s stoppage TKO way back in 2010.
Carmouche (13-6) is on a two-fight winning streak since dropping back down to 125 lbs. The former UFC bantamweight title challenger bested ex-Invicta FC champion Jennifer Maia by unanimous decision last July, then controversially got past Lucie Pudilova at UFC Prague this past February. She prevailed despite very little damaging or meaningful offense against the Czech fighter. That said, she is ranked #3 in her division, so Carmouche is very much justified in getting a title shot.
UFC Uruguay will stream live on ESPN+.