After getting involved in a shootout in Peru on Sunday, Valentina Shevchenko opened up on social media.
UFC women’s bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko and her coach Pavel Fedotov getting involved in a shootout has been one of the more shocking news of late.
Both were eating out at a chicken restaurant in Peru on Sunday, when a gang of robbers stormed in and started assaulting and stealing from the customers. Fedotov immediately opened fire on the robbers and killed one of them, but got hit by a bullet himself (you can see security-camera footage of the shooting here). He is currently in the hospital and will likely make a full recovery, just like another customer who also was shot by one of the robbers.
Shevchenko remained unharmed, and has released her first official statement explaining how the shooting went down.
“Thank you so much dear friends for all the moral support in this very hard time that I and my family are going through!
On Sunday my coach master Pavel risked his life to defend me and the people that I was having dinner at the local restaurant.
I was at the back of the restaurant, and I’ve seen how the thieves went from table to table hitting the diners and snatching their belongings without anyone being able to help them. When they were getting closer towards our table, Pavel acted very determined and bravely.
If criminals would have found the gun he was carrying they would have thought that he was a cop, and very likely that they would have killed him with his own gun.
The Act of Pavel was not only in self-defense, but also the defense of my life and also of the people who were by my side!
Now Pavel is recovering thanks to God!”
Shevchenko is scheduled to face former UFC champion Holly Holm in the main event of UFC on FOX 20 on July 23 in Chicago.