Valentina 'Bullet' Shevchenko is the #1 ranked UFC Women's Flyweight fighter with a professional MMA record of 23 wins and 4 losses. Shevchenko is currently ranked #3 in the UFC Women's pound-for-pound rankings.
Valentina Shevchenko is scheduled to face Alexa Grasso in a rematch for the UFC Women's Flyweight championship at UFC Fight Night 227. This fight is set to take place on September 16, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Valentina Shevchenko started her combat sports journey at the age of 5 when she started learning taekwondo. She would later start Muay Thai Kickboxing at the age of 12, followed by Vale Tudo. Shevchenko's kickboxing career started at the age of 12 when she defeated a 22-year-old opponent via knockout. Shevchenko would then go on to have a kickboxing record of 57-2 and a professional boxing record of 2-0
Shevchenko made her professional MMA debut at the age of 15 at the Kyrgyz Federation of Kulatuu, which she won via TKO. Valentina would go on a six-fight win streak in the Korean, Russian, and Kyrgyz promotions before taking a hiatus in 2006.
After coming back from her hiatus in 2010, Shevchenko suffered a controversial loss before returning to her winning ways and amassing a record of 11-1 before joining the UFC.
Shevchenko would make her UFC debut on short notice at UFC On Fox 17 against Sarah Kaufman, who she would defeat via split decision. Shevchenko's first UFC defeat would come in her next fight, where she faced Amanda Nunes at UFC 196 and lost via unanimous decision. She would regain her momentum by defeating Holly Holm and Julianna Pena before getting a rematch and a title shot against Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. Shevchenko would again lose to Nunes in a close fight via split decision at UFC 215 and would go to the Flyweight division after her loss.
Shevchenko would fight Priscila Cachoeira and defeat her in the second round via rear-naked choke to get a UFC Women's Flyweight Title Shot against Nicco Montano at UFC 228. The bout would be canceled as Montano would face the side effects of weight cutting and would thus be stripped of the title, and Shevchenko would instead face Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant UFC Women's Flyweight Championship at UFC 231. Shevchenko would defeat Jedrzejczyk via a unanimous decision to become the new UFC Women's Flyweight Champion. After her victory, Shevchenko would dominate the flyweight division and defend her title 6 times against the likes of Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, Katlyn Chookagian, Jennifer Maia, Jessica Andrade, and Lauren Murphy.
Shevchenko lost her flyweight title to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 via submission. Their rematch is now scheduled to take place at UFC Fight Night 227 (UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko on September 16, 2023.
Valentina Shevchenko defeated Taila Santos via a split decision in the co-main event of UFC 275. Shevchenko was the favorite heading into the fight.
Talia had clearly won the first few rounds. However, an accidental clash of heads made Taila’s eye swell up significantly before the championship rounds. It made her slow down, and Shevchenko had a much easier time in rounds 3 and 4.
Shevchenko ended the fight on top as the two of the judges gave her a nod. They scored it 48-47 and 49-46, respectively, for the champ. While one judge scored it for Santos with a scorecard of (48-47).
Valentina Shevchenko rematched Amanda Nunes at UFC 215 for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. Shevchenko would have a more competitive showing than the first fight but would yet again come out short as Amanda would land more strikes at 90 to 85. The major difference between the fighters would be at the ground, where Amanda was able to land 2 successful takedowns and have a ground control time of 2 minutes and 32 seconds as compared to Shevchenko, who had no ground control time to her name. Shevchenko would lose the fight via a split decision.
Valentina Shevchenko fought Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 for the vacant UFC Women's Flyweight Championship. Shevchenko and Jedrzejczyk would be neck to neck in terms of total strikes, with Joanna edging out 124-118. However, Valentina would dominate Jedrzejczyk on the ground. She would land 5 successful takedowns and maintain ground control for over 8 minutes to win the fight via Unanimous Decision and become the new UFC Women's Flyweight Championship.
Last Updated On 14th September 2023
Valentina has lost 4 fights so far, with two bouts from Amanda Nunes, one from Liz Carmouche, and one from Alexa Grasso.
Valentina Shevchenko has had 15 fights in the UFC.
Valentina Shevchenko has a tattoo of a Glock 19 pistol and bullets on her waist area. The tattoo matches her moniker 'Bullet' and shows her love for shooting.
Valentina is currently #1 in the UFC Women's Flyweight ranking and is ranked #3 in the UFC Women's Pound for Pound Rankings.
Valentina Shevchenko next fight is a rematch against Alexa Grasso on September 16, 2023 to avenge her loss at UFC 285 and reclaim the women's flyweight title.