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CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 08: Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan celebrates her KO victory over Jessica Eye in their women’s flyweight championship bout during the UFC 238 event at the United Center on June 8, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 08: Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan celebrates her KO victory over Jessica Eye in their women’s flyweight championship bout during the UFC 238 event at the United Center on June 8, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will defend her title in the co-main event of UFC 255 this weekend. The Bullet has been in dominant form since winning the vacant flyweight belt against Joanna Jedrzejczyk and is currently on a five-fight win streak.
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Her last fight came at UFC 247 in February, following which she has been dealing with a knee injury. While speaking to ESPN MMA’s Ariel Helwani, the Bullet announced that she has completely recovered.
Valentina Shevchenko is ready for Jennifer Maia
The UFC flyweight champion said, “You know, it was a very long training camp. It was like first it’s recovering, no skipping training… then getting back into good shape and then like pushing to the limit. So it was a long training camp.”
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CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 08: (L-R) Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan kicks Jessica Eye in their women’s flyweight championship bout during the UFC 238 event at the United Center on June 8, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Valentina is a perfectionist and fine-tunes every little detail of her training to ensure she reaches fight day in top form.
She continued, “It’s kind of like you’re still feeling great because you’re feeling in the good shape and everything, but it’s like a very tiny definition when you can tell no, you’re not there yet.”
Shevchenko will now look for her fourth UFC title defense as she prepares to face Jennifer Maia. With just a few days before the fight, the champion feels she has reached her optimum level. She said, “Last week it was very hard training, a lot of sparring, and yes now I can say that I’m in my peak form for the fight.”
G.O.A.T at Women’s Flyweight
The UFC women’s flyweight division is still relatively new to the UFC. In Season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter, Nico Montano became the first-ever UFC flyweight champion after the title was put on the line in the season finale.
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EDMONTON, AB – SEPTEMBER 09: Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan raises her hands after facing Amanda Nunes of Brazil in their women’s bantamweight bout during the UFC 215 event inside the Rogers Place on September 9, 2017 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
However, the UFC stripped her due to inactivity. Subsequently, Valentina Shevchenko and former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk would battle it out for the vacant title. Valentina would be victorious in a unanimous decision to become only the second-ever UFC women’s flyweight champion.
She has yet to drop the belt and will look to head into 2021 as the champion and cement her legacy in the division. What do you make of the champion’s ominous warning?
Read: “I Am So Proud To Be Her Daughter” – Valentina Shevchenko Reveals Big News On Her Mother