Valentina Shevchenko made it look easy against Lauren Murphy in the
UFC 266 co-main event. But that was always kind of the
goal.
The reigning flyweight queen pitched a virtual shutout for three
rounds against a gun shy Murphy before pouring it on in Round 4 to
earn a stoppage with elbows and punches at the 4:00 mark of the
period at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
“Lauren, she’s a tough opponent,” Shevchenko said at the UFC 266
post-fight press conference. “She’s physical and very strong, but I
wanted to play my game. My ultimate goal as a martial artist is to
reach the level when your opponents, when they’re fighting each
other, [they appear to be] furious, powerful, very strong. But when
they fight me, it’s like, they cannot touch you, but you can finish
them. It’s kind of like what I want [to] be as a martial artist:
untouchable. This is kind of next level of martial artist.”
Shevchenko has come close to achieving that goal during her
125-pound championship reign. On Saturday, she earned her seventh
victory in title bouts, the second most of any female in UFC
history behind only Amanda Nunes. Does Shevchenko believe she has
achieved that “untouchable” status?”
“I’m on my way,” she said.
Since dropping from bantamweight, Shevchenko has rarely been
tested. Her five-round verdict over Joanna Jedrzejczyk to claim the
vacant flyweight strap has arguably been her most difficult test,
but ensuing opponents have rarely, if ever, been able to threaten
the champion. That’s why finding challenges at 125 pounds can prove
to be difficult.
Case in point: Shevchenko dominated Jessica Andrade en route to a
second-round TKO at UFC 261, but Andrade still appears to be head
and shoulders above most contenders at 125 pounds. At UFC 266,
Andrade dominated Cynthia Calvillo in a first-rund technical
knockout victory in another featured flyweight affair.
“In the flyweight division, there are so many strong fighters,”
Shevchenko said. “I didn’t know how the fight was going to be
[between] Jessica Andrade and Cynthia Calvillo. Cynthia was kind of
top-level but Jessica just smashed her, so I don’t know who’s the
next opponent but I can say in [the] flyweight division, there is
every time more and more names coming up so I’m ready to fight all
of them.”
Shevchenko’s dominance at 125 pounds will always lead to questions
regarding a trilogy with two-division queen Amanda Nunes. Nunes is
2-0 against Shevchenko, but both bouts were extremely competitive,
particularly their second meeting with the bantamweight crown on
the line. Thus far, the promotion hasn’t shown much interest in a
third booking. As always, Shevchenko remains open to the
possibility if the stars align.
“I never was choosing my opponents …If they have a name for me, I
accept the fight,” she said. “I want to fight the best in the
world. This is how you prove that you are the best, right? If
destiny wants to make [the Nunes fight] happen, I’m here. Right
now, here.”