At UFC 315 on Saturday, in Montreal, the warrior spirit of ‘Bullet’ Valentina Shevchenko was on full display when she earned the staggering 8th title defense of her flyweight title after putting on yet another masterclass, this time, against the French fighter Manon Fiorot. Following this win Shevchenko has also successfully defended her title in two different reigns, further solidifying her name as the Pound-4-Pound no.1 female in the world as well.

At the age of 37 years, many thought Shevchenko wouldn’t be able to pull off the performance like she used to in her prime. But her performance in Quebec had the whole MMA community wondering if her prime is over or not. One UFC legend, just like all of us, was in awe after Shevchenko’s dominant performance against a tough opponent in Fiorot. The ‘Bullet’ won the fight by a unanimous decision as the judges scored the fight 47-48 in her favor.
Reacting to her amazing performance was the former UFC middleweight champion,Michael Bisping. The veteran and UFC Hall of Famer had nothing but high praise for the Russian phenom, as he said: “It was a really fun fight, there was some nice display of mixed martial arts with the experience and the wrestling and just the technical prowess all over. That’s what got the job done for Valentina Shevchenko and then of course at the end we got to see the classic Valentina Shevchenko celebration where she does the dance.

‘The Count’, further added, ” I couldn’t be a bigger fan of this lady, she speaks something like six languages, she flies planes, she shoots guns. She’s like a real living modern day superhero. She should be in the Marvel movies. Okay if she was beating the sh** out of some grown men, I could believe that she’s fantastic. Manon Fiorot will be back.” And we couldn’t agree more.

Valentina Shevchenko is no ordinary fighter. Besides her accolades mentioned by Bisping, Shevchenko has a staggering 500 fights as a Muay Thai fighter, facing competitors across nations to conquer arenas long before she began her conquest of the UFC.

So what’s next for Valentina Shevchenko? Clearly, a retirement is not in consideration after an amazing performance from the Russian fighter. But there was another bout that had a lot to do with Shevchenko’s next challenger. Let’s read further to find out.

Valentina Shevchenko needs her next challenger; Can Natalia Silva step up to the task?

Valentina Shevchenko’s first flyweight title reign started with a victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk and lasted for a massive seven title defenses. Her title run is considered one among the greatest ever seen in the UFC. With dominant finishes and performances, she turned into a walking human highlight reel inside the UFC Octagon. But as all things do, her title reign came to an end when she faced Alexa Grasso. This loss of Shevchenko is widely considered the biggest upset in women’s MMA history. 

Following a defeat to Grasso, many thought Shevchenko will be able to right her wrongs and finish the job in their rematch. But Grasso had just enough grit in her to secure a title defense, if not in a victory, then a draw. With this fight she laid down yet another halt in Shevchenko’s illustrious career and took her to complete the trilogy to finally beat Grasso and get her flyweight gold back at UFC 306. The biggest challenge of Shevchenko’s later career has just been dominated by the Brazilian Natalia Silva. 

Before Shevchenko’s flyweight title defence, at UFC 315, the division witnessed a potential title eliminator when Natalia Silva outclassed the former flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. Across the fight, Silva kept her distance with Grasso, and she mixed her takedowns with an array of strikes to keep Grasso on her toes to earn a unanimous decision victory. The Brazilian is now on a seven-fight win streak in the UFC after securing her career’s biggest win at UFC 315.

So could this mean that she is the next challenger for Shevchenko? And if she was able to execute a performance like this against Grasso, what are her chances against Valentina Shevchenko? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.