Shevchenko would be wise to fear Erin Blanchfield

By all indications, Erin Blanchfield has spent most of her career preparing to take Valentina Shevchenko’s UFC flyweight title.

It just may be that Valentina Shevchenko has reached the most dangerous juncture of her MMA career: the point when her potential foes are competitors who have spent nearly their entire time in mixed martial arts preparing specifically for her style and approach to fighting.

The 34-year-old Shevchenko won the vacant UFC flyweight belt in December 2018 with a decision win over former strawweight titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Since then, ‘Bullet’ has defended her title seven times, with her next defense scheduled for March 4—when she faces Alexa Grasso in the co-headlining bout of UFC 285. If Shevchenko gets by Grasso (she’s currently a 6-1 favorite to do so) there’s a good chance Erin Blanchfield will be next.

The 23-year-old BJJ black belt out of Renzo Gracie Academy rocketed to No. 2 in the official UFC women’s flyweight rankings thanks to her recent submission win over ex-strawweight champ Jessica Andrade. ‘Cold Blooded’ made her professional MMA debut in March 2018, one month after Shevchenko fought for the first time at 125 pounds under the UFC banner. It’s not an understatement to say that Blanchfield has spent the past five years climbing a mountain with the Kyrgyzstani queen sitting at the top.

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

Very few UFC fighters can hold the belt for a weight class for years. Anderson Silva did it, as did Georges St-Pierre (over two welterweight title runs), so did Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones. Shevchenko is now very clearly among that group, and it seems likely that—much as they did for the other fighters mentioned—her title defenses could start looking more challenging each time she steps into the Octagon.

Of course, part of that has to do with age and time, but another—possibly more significant—factor at play is the fact that the fighters rising in the ranks have now spent years focusing on decoding her strengths and weaknesses. Each time she steps into the cage the flyweight division looks for gaps to exploit, while Shevchenko can only focus incremental improvements and preparation for the specific opponent she’s facing on the night.

When asked about the possibility of facing the champion next, Blanchfield wasn’t shy about calling her shot. “I think I’ll use my style that I’ve been beating everybody with. Everyone kind of underestimates me a little bit just because of my age and because I don’t have that many fights in the UFC. I know I can win these fights. I feel like I’ve been breaking [Shevchenko] down for years. I’ve been watching her since I was in high school. I know once I get in there that we’ll have a good game plan and that belt is going to be mine.”

Chris Weidman dethroned Silva, St-Pierre and Jones arguably lost their titles in their final fights before voluntarily surrendering their belts back to the promotion, and Johnson met his match in Henry Cejudo. It’s impossible to say for sure that Blanchfield will be the one to dethrone Shevchenko, but if there’s a fighter in the division who looks like she has the tools, knowledge and skills—all gained by training with a future title shot against Shevchenko in mind—that fighter is Erin Blanchfield.