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Valentina Shevchenko is quite familiar with the UFC 277 main event fighters. 'Bullet' has beaten Julianna Pena and lost to Amanda Nunes twice. Therefore, her insight is helpful when breaking down their upcoming rematch. Nunes vs. Pena 1 resulted in Pena's historic upset victory:
Pena shocked the MMA world when she became the new women's UFC bantamweight champion with a second-round submission win against Nunes. Since then, 'The Lioness' has switched from the American Top Team to her own gym in preparation for the rematch at UFC 277.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Shevchenko discussed what she thinks happened to Nunes in their first fight and predicted the rematch by saying:
"I actually think Amanda [wins]. I felt like in her last fight against Julianna, she didn't look like herself. I don't know if so many factors like affected that. I don't know what is that; family, training camp, friends at the gym, or whatever. She didn't look the same way when we fought together. She was completely different. Body type, mental type, focus type completely different."
Shevchenko's first loss to Nunes was at UFC 196 by unanimous decision and then by split decision at UFC 215. If 'The Lioness' wins at UFC 277 and 'Bullet' continues to clear the women's flyweight division, a trilogy fight for the greatest female fighter of all time could be inevitable.
Watch Valentina Shevchenko's interview and more on The MMA Hour below:
Valentina Shevchenko believes Taila Santos doesn't deserve an immediate rematch
Shevchenko's latest title defense against Taila Santos was her toughest flyweight challenge yet. 'Bullet' retained her title with a split decision victory, the scorecards read 49-46, 48-47, and 47-48. With that said, tons of fans and several media members thought the Brazilian won the first three rounds.
During the same interview, Shevchenko had this to say about a potential immediate rematch against Santos:
"Make her heal enough. Make her feel good. Come back strong as the same 100 [percent] person and not half of a face...Then I think the obvious matchup is Lauren Murphy vs. Taila Santos has to happen...Immediate rematch? No, I don't think so..."
Shevchenko has now defended the women's flyweight title seven times. The only opponent which captures her attention at the moment would be the winner of Murphy vs. Santos, if that fight materializes.
