If there were any Valentina Shevchenko doubters left on the planet, surely they were silenced when Shevchenko demolished Lauren Murphy at UFC 266. Shevchenko destroyed Murphy for four rounds, finally finishing the challenger in the fourth.
In doing so, she extended her win streak to eight fights over four years. She wants to prove herself against the only fighter to ever defeat her in her MMA career, but says that Amanda Nunes fears facing her once again.
Shevchenko Believes Nunes is Ducking Trilogy Fight, Knows She Was “Gifted” Last Win
Shevchenko told The MMA Hour that Nunes knows she was “gifted” the win in their last bout, and as a result is ducking the trilogy fight.
“I kind of feel that she’s doesn’t want too much this fight to happen. Because inside of herself, she feels that she was gifted the victory from our second fight. Gifted by the judges.
She feels that she was beaten by the smaller girl from the smaller weight class and she is a bigger girl. It’s kind of like pressure on her from the inside.
That’s why she kind of like says ‘I [beat] her twice,’ whatever she’s saying. But it’s kind of like this camouflages what she’s feeling for real and definitely if you was beaten by someone smaller than you by two [weight classes], it would affect you.
That’s why I feel she’s kind of like ‘I don’t want that fight happening.’” Both of Shevchenko’s UFC losses came against Amanda Nunes, both via decision. Although Nunes claimed a razor-thin split decision win, securing the bantamweight title in the process, Shevchenko maintains that she won the fight.
Since then, both fighters have dominated their respective divisions, with Nunes ruling both bantamweight and featherweight, and Shevchenko obliterating all challengers at flyweight.
Shevchenko’s newest goal is to defeat Nunes and finally put the losses behind her. “This is my goal. I know that when we will have fight next time, it’s going to be I will be ready to do anything. Time passed, I’m a different fighter, she is a different fighter than the last time that we fought.
In my mind, in my mindset, I don’t have any ‘maybe if …. I will try’. No, my mind is like only there. Only forward. No matter. I have to die [in] there but I have to be in there.”
Do you want to see the Shevchenko vs Nunes trilogy fight? Will it end differently this time? Let us know in the comments.
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