Valentina “The Bullet” Shevchenko has defeated Liz Carmouche and defended her UFC women’s flyweight title.
The ruler of this category did it via unanimous decision, as all three judges gave her the 50-45 advantage. Not once during the entire clash was she in danger of losing the belt.
Her domination was a result of excellent tactics, which was made before the match. Shevchenko followed the plan, which included pressuring the rival and not allowing her to feel comfortable. She wasn’t near a submission or a TKO but was ahead constantly.
During the third round, she had a strong combination which hurt Carmouche pretty bad, while in the fourth dazzled the opponent with a spinning back fist. It was tough moments for the challenger, who found a way to survive those attacks.
In the final, fifth, round, Carmouche tried to come back and was very aggressive, but couldn’t do anything against the reigning champion.
It is interesting that the champ had only 42 significant strikes in this event. The last time one fighter had fewer in a five-round title clash was in 2016 when Miesha Tate fought Holly Holm.
Even though many believed that Carmouche’s specific style of play might endanger the Kyrgistan-Peruvian fighter, that didn’t happen, Shevchenko explained that by saying that she analyzed her opponent before the match, and found a way to prevent any dangerous situations.
“My strategy was to use all my skills to defend against her. She has very uncommon techniques and style and timing. I did everything to assure my victory inside the cage and not let any surprises happen inside the fight,” she said.
Shevchenko avenged her loss against Carmouche nine years ago, when the doctors stopped the fight. It was an event in Oklahoma Native American reservation.
And immediately after the fight, she expressed a desire to have another chance to get even with one other rival – Amanda Nunes. The Brazilian and one of the best female UFC fighters ever already defeated Shevchenko twice, and on both occasions, it was a close call.
The first fight was also at UFC 196 when Nunes won via unanimous decision. The second clash was one of the best ever seen in the last few years, and Nunes once again won via decision, only this time it was a split call. That was in 2017 at UFC 215.
After that, Shevchenko had four wins including this one, two of the defenses of the flyweight champion belt.
She feels ready now for another episode with the Lioness.
“I want everyone here inside the Octagon,” Shevchenko said, including Nunes in that story.
In another interesting event at the UFC Montevideo, Vincent Luque defeated Mike Perry in what was probably one of the best fights this year. The Brazilian won after a split decision of the judges (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). It was one very nasty and bloody fight with a lot of gruesome moments.
Perry’s nose was broken, and the blood was all over the octagon. The Brazilian was damaged too, but in the end, he posted a win in this one.
