Valentina
Shevchenko will need to go under the knife for the hand injury
she suffered in the opening round of her championship rematch with
Alexa Grasso on Saturday night.
Advertisement
The former flyweight queen revealed on social media that she has a
“communited fracture that requires surgery.” According to
MMAFighting.com, Shevchenko will be able to resume contact in
approximately three months.
Yesterday got the results on my 1 st round
hand injury.
Comminuted fracture that requires surgery 💪💪💪— Valentina Shevchenko (@BulletValentina)
September 19, 2023
At the post-fight press conference following UFC Fight Night 227,
Shevchenko speculated that she broke her thumb in the opening
stanza. Despite that setback, “Bullet” was effective with her jab
and grappling in a back-and-forth affair that ultimately ended in a
split draw due to a controversial 10-8 scorecard awarded to Grasso
in Round 5.
“I broke my thumb in the first round, and it’s fractured,”
Shevchenko said. “I felt it affect my striking, but at the same
time I thought, If I stop, it’s going to be very frustrating for
the whole fans for this night because they were waiting for this
fight, they wanted to see this fight, and If I stopped in the first
round and said, ‘I cannot continue.’ Again, that’s against my
personal rules. That’s why I continued to fight with my whole
heart. I did everything to secure the victory. But because it’s
Mexican Independence Day, it affected the decision of the judges to
give a 10-8 in the fifth round.”