“She had different eyes” Valentina Shevchenko shares her thoughts on what went wrong with Amanda Nunes
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Valentina Shevchenko has expressed her doubts on if the last training camp was ideal for Amanda Nunes
Valentina Shevchenko knows a thing or two about being dominant in her sport. Ever since she gained the flyweight title, the 34-year-old has been tearing down opponents one after the other leaving no questions about who won the fight either with her finishes or decision victories. Another woman who seemingly was on the same wavelength as Valentina was Amanda Nunes, who had been doing the very same things Shevchenko had but as a champion in two divisions. Hence many were shocked after the Brazillian was beaten decisively at the hands of Juliana Pena.
Valentina Shevchenko who has faced Amanda previously, twice has come short of beating the Brazilian twice. Both times the razor-close bouts ended with Amanda getting the decision victory, with Shevchenko even contesting the call in her octagon interview at UFC 215. “Her face is red from my punches” has become a mythological statement in woman’s MMA since then. Recently while talking with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour she revealed how she felt about Amanda’s loss.
Related: “Ready for the next”- Valentina Shevchenko calls upon the UFC to set up her next fight
Valentina Shevchenko feels Amanda Nunes’ title loss has nothing to do with her
The Flyweight champion who is currently in Florida revealed that she’s there training to acclimatize to the hot and humid temperature of Singapore, where her next title defense is scheduled to take place at UFC 275. When asked by Helwani if she was shocked when Pena finished Nunes at UFC 269, the champion stated that she wasn’t shocked but was taken aback for sure. She said, “I was not shocked, of course, it was surprising but I didn’t see Amanda to be in the same fight shape as she used to be” detailing how the former bantamweight champion had a different vigor when they faced back in the day
“When we fought together she had different eyes, different everything, I don’t know,” said Shevchenko. Valentina claimed that against Juliana the former bantamweight champion looked “much more relaxed” claiming something unknown might have gone wrong in the camp for the fight, claiming whatever happened completely destroyed Nunes.
Helwani then asked about how something like this affects Shevchenko’s training who has been on a similarly untouchable run as Champion, to which Shevchenko replied, “This doesn’t have anything to do with me, I know that for being dominant you need to train in that hunger mode,” she continued, “This fight that happened with them, happened with them because they have a very weak mind game or mind set up and it’s nothing that I have to worry about”
Shevchenko is set to make her 7th consecutive title defense on June 12th against Talia Santos at UFC 275 in Singapore.
Also Read: Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes set to run it back at UFC 277 on July 30 in Dallas
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)