Tag: Taila Santos

Valentina Shevchenko has claimed that Taila Santos might have gained a significant amount of weight for the fight.

UFC women’s strawweight queen Shevchenko last took on Santos in a close-fought battle at UFC 275 in Singapore. It was the first time the dominant champion looked in real danger as Santos appeared to be close to getting a submission.

Valentina Shevchenko believes Taila Santos gained more weight for UFC 275 fight

In an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Valentina Shevchenko pointed out the two-day gap between weigh-ins and fight day as a possible reason for why the bout was so competitive.

“I wasn’t expecting an easy fight at all. I knew it was going to be hard but definitely, yes. Maybe it’s the factor that in Singapore, we had almost two days between weigh-ins and fight. This kind of gives an opportunity to fighters to gain extra weight, double weight.

“Maybe that was the factor because all my throws, when I threw her down, I initiated the throws, and at the moment, it’s the weight factor when she can use this extra weight and get on top or something like that.

“So maybe this factor, the two extra days are not good, especially for me because I’m not gaining too much.”

When asked whether she knew how much Taila weighed on fight day, Shevchenko answered to the negative.

“I never asked (how much Taila weighed on fight day) but visually you could see the difference, huge. Definitely, and everyone could see.”

Shevchenko is still happy that she overcame the challenge and retained her title.

“But no, yeah, it was a good fight. Taila’s a good opponent, a strong opponent. I’m glad it was a challenge fight, I’m glad I could prove that no matter what I can outcome from any kind of situation.

“It’s not only about technique, it’s about mental game, it’s about toughness. No matter what and how, you still have to find the way to win the fight. This is my mindset, and I’m very glad that I could show that.”

Do you agree with this analysis from Valentina Shevchenko?

Taila Santos was satisfied with her performance in the title fight with Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275.

Reigning UFC women’s flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko seemed invincible going into her most recent outing against Taila Santos, who came in as the biggest underdog ‘Bullet’ had faced in a title match. Shevchenko had been dominant in her run at the top and was expected to handily dispatch Santos just like her previous opponents.

However, Santos turned out to be Shevchenko’s toughest test. The 29-year-old Brazilian appeared to be ahead on the scorecards in the first two rounds before a clash of heads diminished her vision from the right eye. Shevchenko would manage to come out on top in a razor-thin split decision win.

Taila Santos expected her fight with Valentina Shevchenko to be more difficult

In an interview with Combate, Taila Santos shared her thoughts on the bout. Santos expected Shevchenko to be more difficult but was pleasantly surprised to see how competitive the fight was. Although she didn’t dethrone the dominant champion, she took away the aura of invincibility Shevchenko had prior to the event, and for that, Santos is happy with her performance.

“I was surprised by how easy it was. I was expecting the fight to be much harder in some areas. That’s what I wanted to show, though. That’s she’s not this monster, this unbeatable girl that the other girls were thinking. I respected her, she has had the belt for years now, so I prepared really well. I was ready to solve the puzzle.”

“I was surprised, because I thought it was going to be hard to take her down.” Santos said. “I thought it would be hard to impose my will, because she’s a really smart girl. In the end, it was easier than I had anticipated. When we went to the fence, I was able to take her down really easily. I was able to take her back and dominate her. That’s what surprised me. I expected more hardships. but in the end it was easier.” (h/t Bloody Elbow).