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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?

The post Quote: Shevchenko Doesn’t Deserve Flyweight Title Shot appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Emerging lightweight contender Kevin Lee won’t be watching this upcoming Ultimate Fighter season with coaches Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje.

While all three men call 155 pounds home, Lee was critical of the choice to have Alvarez and Gaethje coach against each other, as he perceives the two to be less than charismatic when it comes to screen time.

Lee voiced his disdain for the coaching choice this week as they begin filming the 26th season.

“I think if you even ask anybody in the UFC, and they say (me vs. Gaethje) is the better fight to make,” Lee said according to MMAjunkie. “That’s the better TV. If they really wanted to push ‘TUF,’ I think that would’ve been the better option, and I think if you ask anybody in the know, they would’ve said the same thing.”

“You’ve got Eddie, and you’ve got Gaethje, who are both brain dead. They’re going to go in there, they’re going to talk, and they’re going to slur some words at each other. Nobody is going to watch it. It’s going to be terrible. I feel sorry for the women on the show, because they’re not going to get as many eyeballs.”

Lee ran through Michael Chiesa last month and has emerged as a fringe lightweight contender ever since.

Meanwhile, Gaethje made his UFC debut after amassing a perfect 19-0 record in WSOF and engaged in a potential fight of the year candidate against Michael Johnson, who he eventually finished with strikes.

Season 26 will can feature women’s flyweights, and will crown a 125-pound champ in the season finale.

But Lee (16-2) remains disgruntled with the choice in coaches.

“If Gaethje beats me, you say, ‘Oh, he beats a smart fighter,’” Lee said. “If he knocks Eddie out in the first round, the story line will be that Eddie’s done. The story line won’t be that Gaethje’s a great fighter.”

The post Kevin Lee: Nobody Will Watch Gaethje & Alvarez On TUF 26 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.