“I didn’t lose the second fight” Valentina Shevchenko vs Amanda Nunes 3, this time in a champion-versus-champion fight
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Current women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko is set to battle with Jennifer Maia in the co-main event of UFC 225. She would be looking to make it her 4th straight successful title defence, having already beaten the likes of Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, and Kaitlyn Chookagian since winning the vacant title back in 2018.
It might be safe to say the the champ would be feeling confident heading into the fight. However, there is one particular fighter who has Shevchenko’s number and she is quite aware of this. On the latest episode of Hablemos MMA, the champ expressed her wish to fight reigning women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes for a third time.
Third fight will be champion vs champion: Shevchenko
Shevchenko and Nunes first crossed paths at UFC 196, with Nunes coming out on top. They would again fight for the women’s bantamweight title a year later. Nunes would again emerge the victorious, albeit with a closely fought split decision.
On the latest episode of Hablemos MMA, Shevchenko stated that a third fight against Nunes is “logical” because she believes that she had won their second meeting. “I think it would be logical, she’s been going through her opponents very easily, and I think that for the future, it would be logical to have a third fight because the second fight, I didn’t lose it. I won it.”, Shevchenko claimed.
If fight 3 does indeed goes down, it would inevitably be a champion vs champion match. And Shevchenko feels that the third time will not be the charm for Brazillian Nunes. “This fight right now, as champion vs. champion, I think the judges will have a different outlook towards the fight.
Three years ago in 2017 when we had our fight, they thought that just that one thing gave her the victory, and that was the takedown she got in the fifth round. She didn’t even start it – it was me who initiated, but since it was the final round, we were both slippery. She’s heavier, so I ended on bottom when I was supposed to land on top,” Shevchenko explained.
She further went on to say that the only reason Nunes won their previous fights was because of the decisions, saying“That’s the only thing that gave her a small advantage in the eyes of the judges that night. But that’s how it went down, and I think it would be very logical to have that third fight between us.”
With that being said, it can be assumed the flyweight champ would be hoping to put away Maia in their upcoming match, so as to build momentum for the eventual showdown against Nunes.
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