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Valentina Shevchenko has absorbed just 92 strikes across her last five dominant performances inside the octagon.
Last Saturday night, Valentina Shevchenko successfully defended her belt for the sixth time as she put on a show against Lauren Murphy in Las Vegas. After three rounds that didn’t see a whole lot of action transpire, the great Shevchenko emerged and finished Murphy in the fourth thanks to a barrage of punches, kicks and elbows.
It once again served as a reminder to us all that Valentina Shevchenko simply isn’t human, with the following statistics from MMA On Point confirming that.
Lauren Murphy landed 11 strikes, Jessica Andrade landed 10, Jennifer Maia landed 36, Katlyn Chookagian landed 17 and Liz Carmouche landed 18.
UFC 266 saw another performance that helped to re-define the term “dominance” within the context of the women’s flyweight division. It wouldn’t be all too surprising to see the bar being raised even higher from here.
What’s next for Valentina Shevchenko?
In all likelihood we’re going to continue seeing Valentina Shevchenko vs *insert challenger here* and the smart money says she’ll keep on winning, racking up more and more title defenses as she goes. Of course, there’s no 100% guarantee behind that. However, anyone with two eyes and a brain can see that she’s levels above many of the other girls in the top 15, if not all of them.
The other idea, of course, would be for her to move back up in weight in the name of challenging Amanda Nunes in a trilogy bout. The 'Lioness' managed to secure the win in both previous encounters. However, the rematch was definitely contentious, with many believing 'Bullet' should’ve had her hand raised.
It's all about timing and Amanda Nunes needs to first focus on trying to see off the challenge of Julianna Pena. If she can do that, there's every chance that the Brazilian and Shevchenko will square off for a third and potentially even final time, in what would easily be one of the most important bouts in women's MMA history.
