SUMMARY
- Valentina Shevchenko is preparing for a trilogy fight against Alexa Grasso.
- The Krygyzstani has already defended her title as champion multiple times while beating several other all-timers from the women's division.
Valentina Shevchenko briefly defined the epitome of women’s mixed martial arts in the UFC but her reign as the champion of the flyweight division was nothing short of legendary. The Kyrgyzstani fighter has competed against some of the greatest athletes of the women’s divisions in the UFC earning wins against Julianna Pena, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and many more.
In 2018, after defeating Joanna for the flyweight title at UFC 231, Shevchenko maintained championship status for nearly six years before meeting Alexa Grasso in the octagon for the first time. The Mexican 16-3-1 fighter managed to submit the former champion in their first bout but their second fight resulted in a draw. Shevchenko believes that she did enough to reclaim the title, however, it wasn’t enough.
A win against Alexa Grasso will permanently stamp Valentina Shevchenko’s name as the flyweight GOAT
Valentina Shevchenko could retire after fighting Grasso for the third time and still be called the greatest women’s flyweight ever. After defeating Jedrzejczyk, the Mauy Thai expert defended her title seven times. She fought against a few dangerous knockout artists as well while earning wins against Jessica Andrade, Lauren Murphy, Jessica Eye, Jennifer Maia, Liz Carmouche, Katlyn Cerminara, and Taila Santos.
🔥 UFC flyweight champ 🇲🇽 Alexa Grasso and former champ 🇰🇬 Valentina Shevchenko face off outside the Sphere in Vegas ahead of their trilogy fight at #UFC306 (aka Noche UFC 2) on September 14. Who are you backing? #WMMA #UFC pic.twitter.com/kO7NVblcpR
— Women’s MMA Rankings (@WMMARankings) July 31, 2024
Impressively, each of these fights either resulted in KO/TKOs or unanimous decisions, except for her last battle against Santos which was a split decision. Now, scheduled to fight Grasso for the third time, there isn’t anything to lose when it comes to Bullet Shevchenko. Valentina has done enough to cement herself as the greatest women’s flyweight fighter. Reclaiming the belt as Noche UFC will only push her further away from the rest.
The UFC Women’s Flyweight division has the most talent but the least amount of traction
While one might assume the women’s divisions don’t have much going on at the moment, the unfortunate truth is that the UFC isn’t promoting too many women’s fights. If you look at the flyweight division alone, there are fighters like Rose Namajunas, Maycee Barber, Jessica Andrade, and many more who have had exceptional fights recently. Namajunas’ move up a weightless has only brought more attention to the flyweight division as well.
Tiger Muay Thai fighter @BulletValentina is back in camp ✊
Fresh off of coaching her team on Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, Valentina has now returned here with coach Pavel to focus on preparing for her UFC Flyweight title rematch vs Alexa Grasso 👊#mma #tigermuaythai pic.twitter.com/cOiz5kuiQc
— Tiger Muay Thai (@tigermuaythai) June 23, 2024
While there could be some serious money fights, the UFC hasn’t focused on these divisions as much. In fact, since winning the title, Grasso has only fought against Valentina Shevchenko while she could’ve stayed active and defended her belt against the #2 or #3 ranked flyweight. But after facing a draw and coaching TUF with Shevchenko, it’s only right that these individuals face each other before anybody else gets a title shot.