Valentina Shevchenko failed to recapture her UFC flyweight title over the weekend, and “Bullet” Valentina blames one man.
One of the judges at UFC Noche last week, Mike Bell, scored the final round of their fight 10-8 in favor of Shevchenko’s opponent, Alexa Grasso, declaring the fight a draw, and allowing Grasso to maintain her title. In response, Shevchenko appeared on The MMA Hour to put Bell on blast.
Valentina Shevchenko SLAMS UFC Noche Judges
“Emotions. As I said on Saturday, it’s kind of double. For one part, I’m very proud of what I did inside of the octagon.
I do know exactly three rounds, for certain, from the fight were my rounds. I won those rounds. From the other side, a few things in the side were completely unfair.
Definitely the scorecard in the final round, 10-8. Mike Bell, he did some inexplicable things and I think the whole world would love to hear an explanation. But from the other side, it’s not me. He is going to live with that mistake forever.”
Shevchenko argued that the criteria for a 10-8 round are very clear: a one-sided beating. “There is nothing clear in that, the reason it was a 10-8.
No one is speaking about it, and my guess is because there is no explanation for that. It’s kind of like he had me on his scorecard winning three rounds, and it looks like in the final round he was like, ‘Oh my God, I cannot let this happen! I’ll just switch my mind and give a 10-8.’
In our sport, 10-8 is when a fighter cannot do anything. He just goes in the round, running around from the opponent and trying to survive. This is 10-8.
But you could see in the fifth round, it’s not even close to a 10-8. In the standup, all the hits that I was hitting were hard hits, and I felt that a few of them, they landed very hard to her and she was kind of shook up. I felt it.
It’s completely not a 10-8. Control doesn’t mean 10-8. Control, is nothing. Damage, there wasn’t any damage like that in the final round.”
Shevchenko has not gone as far as to accuse Bell of bias or fight fixing, but stopped just short. “I want to hear it from him, to say otherwise.
I want to hear it from him to say that was not the reason why. I want to hear from him why it was three rounds, me winning, and then suddenly decide, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to let it happen. 10-8.’
It’s good it was not 10-7!”
