Chael Sonnen knows a thing or two about facing elite opposition. He fought Anderson Silva, one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the UFC, in his prime. He’s familiar with the unbeatable aura that can surround truly great champions. On his YouTube channel, Sonnen described the aura surrounding UFC women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko as “a thing of folklore”. He also pointed out, that like all great fighters, she could still lose.
With Shevchenko set to face Taila Santos at UFC 275 this weekend, Chael Sonnen described how her eight-fight winning streak could come to an end.
Chael Sonnen: Shevchenko Looks Unbeatable, But Santos Can “Beat the Bullet”
“How do you beat ‘The Bullet?’ Well, there’s a way to beat her, of course, there is. Everybody can lose, every dog has his day. ‘The Bullet’ is as close to a perfect fighter as I’ve ever seen.
If somebody wanted to say ‘The Bullet’ is the greatest fighter in the world, the only other argument would be Jon Jones and those skills, the greatest that the Octagon has ever seen, or is ‘The Bullet?’ Her skills are unbelievable, she is a thing of folklore.
That doesn’t mean she’s unbeatable. You could beat ‘The Bullet’ in a fight on her feet, and you don’t have to be better on your feet than she is to do it. You can beat ‘The Bullet’ on the ground, and you don’t have to be better on the ground than she is to do it, the rules allow for that.”
Valentina Shevchenko has not tasted defeat since her drop down to the 125-pound flyweight division. Chael Sonnen outlined that pace and volume are the only way to overcome the terrifying flyweight champion.
“Do you believe that ‘The Bullet’s’ opponent this weekend has the ability to weaponize pace? Because that’s actually one of ‘The Bullet’s’ great weapons.
She’s not only more skilled with the punches, the kicks, the grappling, the submissions, and the techniques, she can do them harder and throw more at the wall than her opponents do.
But there’s ways to beat her, that’s one. Throw more at her, you don’t have to be better than her. If you get her tired. You don’t have to be better than her. If you can out position her. That’s where the fence, cage control, becomes so relevant.”
Do you think Chael Sonnen has this one right? Will Talia Santos implement such a game plan? Or are we about to see yet another dominant Shevchenko performance? Let us know in the comments.
