In 2017, when Valentina Shevchenko clashed against the most feared woman in UFC, Amanda Nunes, she lost to her by a split decision. She didn’t scream, she quietly reaffirmed her mission to be the best as she said: “I will fight anyone, anywhere.” If only her past self knew, she’d grow not just to prove herself right, but in the process, become one of the best fighters in the whole world.

That sentiment was on full display when the ‘Bullet’ Valentina Shevchenko dominated and outclassed Manon Fiorot to earn a unanimous decision victory and a staggering 8th defense of her flyweight throne. In her first reign, Shevchenko earned seven defenses, and after losing the belt to Alexa Grasso, she reclaimed it from Grasso in their trilogy fight, leading to her 8th title defense, which came against Fiorot.

However, the competition always stays alive. And after showing the world that she isn’t going anywhere, the ‘Bullet’ has already listed two names whom she might go up against. Before Shevchenko’s flyweight title defense, the UFC held one more flyweight bout on the fight card between Grasso and Natalia Silva in a possible title eliminator. The fight ended as a unanimous decision victory for Silva, and now on with a seven-fight win streak in the UFC, it seems her title shot is next.

As Shevchenko sat down with Ariel Helwani to discuss her future fights, she complimented Silva’s fight game and said: “Speaking of about Natalia, I think she’s also like um she showed amazing fight and she show like, the skill, ability, uh very correct, tactic choosing like, strategy for the fight she used like the distance. Because like Alexa, she’s very good, and very strong, and she really want this interchange. She wants to fight on the closer distance, but Natalia showed the skills and the ability. Analyze like with their team, choosing the right acting and yeah definitely. I would say it was very beautiful fight, very smart fight strategically.

The ‘Bullet’ also addressed the elephant in the room, the Zhang Weili super-fight and announced she will fight anyone, anywhere, and she does not ‘cherry-pick’ her opponents. She added, saying: “I never was like, picking my opponent or like negotiating with UFC, oh no. I want to fight here I want to fight there, they offer me fight, I accepted. They offer me like another name, I just accept it. And even I never like was declining the places, so if I had to fight in the um like my opponent’s home against their fans and everything and I would do that because I am martial artist like all the way. And yeah, it’s kind of like the the way I was uh build it as a fighter.

Now, Dana White & co. are in a big trouble. On one side there is the deserving flyweight contender Natalia Silva, while on the other side, its Zhang Weili. Weili and Shevchenko can possibly deliver one of the biggest bouts of the year in their super-fight but what will the UFC do? Will they reward a fighter’s merit or bring Weili as the big money fight?

Furthermore, if Weili loses to Shevchenko, the strawweight division will be overlooked and weakened. Whereas, if Shevchenko loses, her flyweight reign and her accomplishments will be once again over-shadowed. So who will Valentina fight next? That’s a question only time has answer to.

But at UFC 315, when she beat Manon Fiorot, the ‘Bullet’ broke one more record. Now what has she accomplished this time? Lets read further to find out.

History made again: Valentina Shevchenko sets new age record in UFC title defense

Amid all this, it seems the ‘Bullet’ cannot stop breaking records. The legendary fighter already is also the first UFC fighter to complete the full set of rubies on the new UFC title. A UFC championship belt can hold a maximum of 8 rubies on each center plate. Each ruby represents a successful title defense, and the first side of the plate is designed to accommodate 8 rubies.

But just as she beat Fiorot, she achieved one more feat to her name as she became the oldest UFC fighter to defend a UFC title below the middleweight division. At the age of 37years old, Shevchenko has silenced all of her doubters, and further solidified her already larger than life legacy. Her achievement is quite similar to the one accomplished by Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314 when he, aged 36, became the oldest male fighter to win a UFC title in the lower weight classes, below welterweight.

Both Volkanovski and  Shevchenko have had a similar path to one another in their journey of redemption and reclaiming their rightful thrones. Volk was coming off three straight losses, losing twice to Islam Makhachev and then the infamous knockout against Ilia Topuria. Then he finally showed his true strength and beat the adversity at UFC 314, recapturing his featherweight gold and defeating Diego Lopes.

Similarly, Shevchenko’s prime was questioned when she struggled to beat Grasso across the first two fights, where  she lost the first, drew the second and then won the third. The MMA community can do nothing but stand amazed by what the Russia-based Muay Thai legend has done and continues to accomplish in the sport. With her eyes set to face either Weili or Silva, one has to wonder, when will Valentina Shevchenko’s ‘prime’ actually end? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.