SINGAPORE – Valentina Shevchenko still ponders a move back up to 135 pounds, but it won’t necessarily be her next one after UFC 275.
Women’s flyweight champion Shevchenko (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) notched her seventh title defense when she edged out Taila Santos in Saturday’s co-main event. She still wants to continue conquering her division.
Prior to facing Santos, Shevchenko said she’d be open to facing the winner of the bantamweight title rematch between Julianna Peña and Amanda Nunes at UFC 277. While she’s not ruling that possibility out for her next fight, it appears she has another idea that could interest her.
“It’s still something that I really consider,” Shevchenko told MMA Junkie at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference. “But also, I have to mention that July we have in flyweight an amazing fight between two very strong fighters: Lauren Murphy and Miesha Tate.
“So it’s going to be an amazing fight, and I think if Lauren Murphy gets the victory, rematch (with me) maybe – but not that soon. Miesha Tate wins the fight, I think this is what fans are going to love to see: end of the year, pay-per-view, main event. I think it’s going to be great.”
Shevchenko said she weighed in at 130 pounds on fight night against Santos, who she thought was the much larger fighter. So if she does decide to go up to bantamweight, she’ll have to put on some size.
“But still, another option is Julianna and Amanda at bantamweight, and once it’s going to be more toward finalizing, I will start to work on building my body a little bit heavier – just a little bit so not to lose the speed,” Shevchenko said. “It’s a lot of options for me, just to choose which one.”