Valentina Shevchenko continues to reign over the flyweight division after edging past Talia Santos in the UFC 275 co-main event on Saturday evening.
‘The Bullet’ defended her title for a record-breaking seventh consecutive time at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, surpassing Ronda Rousey who made six defences of her bantamweight title before losing to Holly Holm in 2015.
Shevchenko has looked nothing short of flawless since dropping down to the newly formed flyweight division in 2018.
The 34-year-old quickly captured the 125lb title and has been the champion ever since.
Seven different women have tried and failed to dethrone her since then with no one getting remotely close until Santos stepped up to the plate last night.
The Brazilian grappling specialist had 19 wins and just one defeat, a split decision loss in her UFC debut, heading into the fight.
Despite being a considerable underdog Santos was believed by some to be an interesting challenge for the long-time champ.
That’s exactly what the 28-year-old proved to be as she grappled well throughout the fight and even threatened with submissions on the ground but after 25 minutes of fighting two of the judges scored the fight in Shevchenko’s favour.
Judge David Lethaby scored the fight 48-47 for Santos but was overruled by Howard Hughes and Clemens Werner who gave the fight to Shevchenko with scorecards of 48-47 and 49-46.
Most read in MMA
Werner’s wider score drew criticism from the MMA community, with flyweight contender Casey O’Neill calling for the judge to be fired after scoring the fight so wide for the champion.
Post-fight, Shevchenko was happy to have finally found a flyweight opponent who could push her to the brink of defeat.
“This is exactly what I wanted, opponents who are not giving up from the first few seconds, going to the end,” she said at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference.
"In this kind of fight, you can really show what you’re made of, your character, your mindset. You get what is yours, victory, no matter how hard, no matter how difficult. It’s like showing who you are, so I am happy."
The no.1 pound-for-pound fighter in WMMA doesn’t view her latest win as controversial and explained that her opponent while impressive in the grappling exchanges at UFC 275 was inactive and taking a lot of damage throughout the fight.
“She was inactive. Me being in that position I was striking [backward] and I felt the power of the strike and I felt how she reacted because it was hurting her," Shevchenko said.
“This is what counts the most in mixed martial arts – damage. Through the fight going round-to-round, you could see the damage showing on her face more and more.”
OFFER OF THE DAY
Bet365: Bet £10 on any sport, get £50 in free bets* CLAIM HERE
Open account offer. Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets for new customers at bet365. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply 18+ Begambleaware.org
ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifLS8zquraKWdlnxyfZFxaW1vX6uurbHNraCnmV2otabCwqGcp6OfYq%2BzscCkqmaqn6OxonnRqKysnaliv6avzqubZqyRobaiedKapa2no2LCp6%2BMa25uZw%3D%3D