UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko remains atop the 125-pound mountain.
Shevchenko retained her strap in the co-main event of UFC 247 on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, finishing Katlyn Chookagian in the third round. “The Bullet” put on a masterful performance, showing just how far ahead she is from everyone else in the division. It left the mixed martial arts (MMA) community wondering who could challenge Shevchenko next.
Speaking at her post-fight press conference, Shevchenko said, after taking a look at the rankings, she has three potential names in mind. Those being Joanne Calderwood, Jennifer Maia, and Roxanne Modafferi. (H/T MMA Junkie)
“We just watched the rankings of flyweight with Laura Sanko, and it was after Katlyn (Chookagain) (and) Jessica Eye. It was Joanne Calderwood, Jennifer Maia, and Roxanne Modafferi,” Shevchenko said. “These three girls I think are strong fighters. They have very good skills. Each one, they have different styles of fighting. I would love to fight any one of them.”
The 33-year-old Calderwood is currently ranked No. 3 in the division and has won three of her last four fights. The only loss in her last four came to Chookagian, who challenged for the title last night. Maia is actually coming off of a loss to Chookagian in November at UFC 244.
Before that, she was on a two-fight win streak against Alexis Davis and Modafferi. Also, the aforementioned Modafferi, a longtime veteran in the sport, has had a spotty record over the years but comes off of a big upset win over Maycee Barber. These are all great suggestions, however, many would also like to see Shevchenko take part in some superfights next. Potential opponents include UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes, or strawweight champ Weili Zhang.
However, Zhang will put her title up for grabs against Joanna Jedrzejczyk on March 7 at UFC 248. Shevchenko has already defeated Jedrzejczyk in both Muay Thai and MMA competition. It will be interesting to see what the UFC decides to do with Shevchenko next.
What do you think about Shevchenko suggesting Calderwood, Maia, and Modafferi as potential opponents?