Tag: Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko

Dana White: Nunes-Shevchenko Trilogy Fight Not Likely Anytime Soon

Dana WhiteDana White has spoken; he will not book a trilogy fight between the two most dominant UFC women’s champions anytime soon. That is, of course, unless both champions want it. Shevchenko (21-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) put on a dominant performance at UFC 261. She earned a first-round stoppage former strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade (21-9 MMA, 12-7 […]

Dana White

Dana White has spoken; he will not book a trilogy fight between the two most dominant UFC women’s champions anytime soon. That is, of course, unless both champions want it.

Shevchenko (21-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) put on a dominant performance at UFC 261. She earned a first-round stoppage former strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade (21-9 MMA, 12-7 UFC). In the wake of her domination of Andrade, the media asked White about a trilogy between the two champions. (H/T MMA Junkie)

“(They should have) their own legacies. They fought a couple times. People can think whatever they want. There’s always going to be somebody else coming up (to challenge Shevchenko). There’s always a new contender. And it’s not Valentina’s fault that she’s one of the all-time baddest women on this planet. So making her move up to 135 pounds just doesn’t make sense when she did it twice.”

However, White went on to share that the trilogy isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. “If they both come to me and they both want to do it, then whatever – I’ll make it happen. But it’s not something I’m thinking about.”

If Nunes is interested, it’s not the focus of her attention at this time. She’s preparing to defend her bantamweight title against Julianna Peña at UFC 265, after back-to-back defenses of her featherweight belt.

Nunes also holds wins over Shevchenko in both of their previous fights.  

While Shevchenko would like to, admittedly, exact her revenge, she’s in no rush to do it anytime soon.

“My career is not going to be over soon,” Shevchenko said. “I plan to fight for a long time. This fight is just going to happen. I’m not going to push it and say, ‘Give me Amanda right now. I’m going to break her face.’ This fight is just going to happen. It’s going to happen just naturally when everyone feels like there’s no more. Only this fight makes sense for everyone. When the fans, when the UFC when Dana White thinks we need this fight.”

“When it’s time to happen, it’s going to be something big and huge – and I’ll be ready for it. I’m already for it – but I’ll be sure to gain some pounds back.”

Should the UFC schedule the Nunes-Shevchenko trilogy in 2021?

Valentina Shevchenko Believes Amanda Nunes Trilogy Will Happen

Valentina Shevchenko is set for her second title defense at flyweight this Saturday and many are already wondering who is next in the division. Although she is committed to 125-pounds, she believes the Amanda Nunes trilogy fight happens. Of course, at UFC 196, Nunes defeated Shevchenko by unanimous decision. Then, at UFC 215 for the […]

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Valentina Shevchenko is set for her second title defense at flyweight this Saturday and many are already wondering who is next in the division. Although she is committed to 125-pounds, she believes the Amanda Nunes trilogy fight happens.

Of course, at UFC 196, Nunes defeated Shevchenko by unanimous decision. Then, at UFC 215 for the bantamweight title, the two went to the scorecards again where it was a split-decision win for the Brazilian.

The two fights were super close but it was Nunes barely edging out the win. Now, at UFC Uruguay, Shevchenko has the chance to right the wrong and beat Liz Carmouche who has beaten her before. And, if she does that, she will want to right the other wrong and that is to fight and beat Nunes.

“If we’re speaking about me and Amanda, it’s also so complicated between her and (Cris) Cyborg so, let’s see what they’re deciding,” Shevchenko said (h/t MMA Junkie). “But I think about our third fight. It’s not what I want, it’s not what she wants. It’s going to happen, anyway. I don’t know if it’s going to happen soon, later, when, I don’t know – but it’s going to happen because it’s not under our control. It’s already always there.”

Regardless, of wanting the third fight, she must beat Liz Carmouche first. But, Valentina Shevchenko is confident in her skills that she can do just that.

“I’m happy it’s going to be in Uruguay because Latin America is a huge part of my life,” Shevchenko said. “We lived there for eight years. The culture, the people, everything. While we were living in Peru, there was one country we never visited – it’s Uruguay. It’s perfect timing. Everything’s good and I know it’s going to be a good fight. Liz, she’s a strong fighter, MMA fighter, but I will do my best and more to keep my belt for a long, long time.”

Not only is she excited to fight in Uruguay, but she says she is prepared to take the fight anywhere. Even if she wants to grapple with Carmouche, which may very well be her game plan.

“I’m good going to the ground, I’m good to go to the wrestling game, on the striking game – I’m a mixed martial artist,” she said. “I can do whatever. That’s why I’m training so hard. That’s why we’re training every position, so no problem with me at all.”

Would you be interested in seeing Valentina Shevchenko vs. Amanda Nunes 3?

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Valentina Shevchenko Addresses Potential Fight With Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Valentina Shevchenko has given her take on this possible fight.

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Valentina Shevchenko addresses a potential fight with former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk as she was unable to compete in her latest fight booking.

It’s been well established that the former women’s bantamweight title contender was supposed to fight Nicco Montano for the UFC women’s flyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 228 but this fight got canceled once it was revealed that Montano was hospitalized for kidney function issues.

Since then, UFC President Dana White has noted in interviews that the promotion is working on finding an opponent for Shevchenko to fight for the vacant title. One name that has been tossed out there is Jedrzejczyk.

Shevchenko stated in an interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that she would be interested in this fight due to their history.

“We already have our history with Joanna in Muay Thai and we can start our history in MMA. Why not?” said Shevchenko, who beat Jedrzejczyk in all three of their kickboxing bouts. “Why don’t we do this fight? All the fans want to see this fight.

“The division has to move, the division has to fight and the belt has to be in play. The fight for the belt has to happen before the end of the year. I will gladly fight Joanna because she’s a real professional fighter.”

As seen on the main card of the UFC on FOX 30 event at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that aired on big FOX, the former UFC women’s strawweight champion scored a decision win over Tecia Torres in a women’s strawweight bout.

Time will tell whether the UFC books a fight against Shevchenko and Jedrzejczyk.

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Valentina Shevchenko Declares Nicco Montano Must ‘Fight Or Step Out’

It’s time to book this fight:

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Valentina Shevchenko is making herself right at home in her new weight class after dropping to flyweight from bantamweight.

The UFC’s flyweight division is newly created and only recently had it’s champion crowned in late 2017. Nicco Montaño won The Ultimate Fighter 26 and defeated Roxanne Modafferi to win the title, however she managed to do so with just a 3-2 professional MMA record.

Now, Shevchenko is losing patience in waiting for a title shot, and had some harsh words for the newly crowned champion, insisting she defend the belt or vacate it:

“Not yet, we are not at that point [Montano vacating the title], but I think it would be very right to do things like this because if you are not ready to fight, if you don’t want to fight, you have to leave the belt — you cannot hold it.”

“If you are feeling that you have health issues and you cannot fight for a long time you just have to leave it. When you come back you have a right to fight for this belt again. It’s not the right thing to just hold [the belt] and say it’s mine forever. Either you are fighting and defending or you should step out.”

Shevchenko says she signed on to fight Montaño for the flyweight title on July 28 in Calgary, however Montaño took to social media shortly thereafter to announce she is recovering from a recent tonsillectomy and likely won’t be fighting until after the Calgary card.

Shevchenko was earnest in her assessment of the situation, saying Montaño appears to be avoiding her in an effort to keep her belt:

“Yes, I feel a bit like she is [avoiding me], but I also think it could be her strategy. I don’t know if they have approached her for a date at the end of the summer, if not maybe she will accept it, but nobody can be sure if she will be fighting by then. Maybe at the very last second she could say that she still has some kind of injury and she cannot fight. Maybe it will happen, so I will continue to do my job and keep training.”

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Quote: Shevchenko Doesn’t Deserve Flyweight Title Shot

Newly crowned UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano may have just won the belt, but she’s already calling shots like she’s ruled over the division for years. Montano, who holds a modest 4-2 MMA record, won the 125-pound strap at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale, defeating Roxanne Modafferi. Shortly after her big win, she was quoted […]

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Newly crowned UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano may have just won the belt, but she’s already calling shots like she’s ruled over the division for years.

Montano, who holds a modest 4-2 MMA record, won the 125-pound strap at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale, defeating Roxanne Modafferi. Shortly after her big win, she was quoted later shutting down women’s bantamweight Valentina Schevchenko’s desire to fight for the flyweight belt.

Montano expounded upon her statement regarding who is worthy of a title shot in a division that was literally just created in the UFC during an appearance on The MMA Hour:

“You want to fight the best so that you can prove to everybody else that you are the best, but right now the best is not Shevchenko at ‘25. She hasn’t fought at that weight. It’s not Paige VanZant, she hasn’t fought at that weight either. So I think it’s pretty silly and I’m a person who wants fair fights and so I just don’t think they are deserving of it right now. I would like it to be Sarge, I think she deserves another chance. She made it through six weeks of hell doing that. I was there watching, I was there partaking in that six-week period, so I know how much heart she has and how much she’s wanting this.

Montano also refused to entertain a title fight with former strawweight Paige VanZant, who along with Shevchenko has never fought at 125 pounds in the UFC before. However, both women are moving to the flyweight division, and both carry impressive UFC and MMA records in addition to a ton of attention in terms of women’s MMA.

Shevchenko lost a somewhat underwhelming decision to current women’s bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes at UFC 215, but there’s no shame in that considering how dominant Nunes has been lately. VanZant carries with her a 7-3 MMA record, and is looking to reinvent herself at 125 pounds

TUF 26 featured a cast full of 125-pound female fighters, with Montano and Sijara Eubanks making it to the finals. Eubanks was hospitalized the day before the event and Modaferri stepped in on extremely short-notice.

With a newly created division wide open for contenders, Montano won’t be able to call the shots for much longer.

Who should be Montano’s first title defense? Does she have a point about fighters coming from other weight classes being unworthy of a flyweight title shot?

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Valentina Shevchenko Calls Out Paige VanZant For Title Eliminator

With a new women’s weight division open for business in the UFC, several top 115 and 135-pound fighters are looking for a way at capturing the flyweight belt. Former women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko may have twice lost to current champ Amanda Nunes, but a title fight at 125 pounds could obviously yield different […]

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With a new women’s weight division open for business in the UFC, several top 115 and 135-pound fighters are looking for a way at capturing the flyweight belt.

Former women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko may have twice lost to current champ Amanda Nunes, but a title fight at 125 pounds could obviously yield different results. In order to get there, she may need to win at least one more fight.

That goal in sight, she’s looking at Paige VanZant as her dance partner for a title shot eliminator match at flyweight where the winner takes on the new champ.

VanZant (7-3) is stepping up in weight after several brutal cuts down to 115 pounds. She last lost to Michelle Waterson before declaring her intention to move up a weight division, and was set to face former bantamweight contender Jessica Eye at October’s UFC 216 before a back injury delayed her flyweight debut.

Shevchenko (14-3) is looking for a fresh start after losing a second time to Nunes, who’s showed no signs of slowing down in her dominance over the weight class.

The first women’s flyweight champ will be crowned at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 Finale on December 1.

UFC President Dana White has said that Paige VanZant wouldn’t be getting an immediate title shot at flyweight, thus potentially opening up the opportunity for a showdown with Shevchenko. Do you believe this fight should be booked, or would VanZant be in over her head?

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