Can ‘The Bullet’ Start Her Second Title Run on the Right Foot?
Valentina Shevchenko is one of the greatest women combat athletes who has ever competed in the UFC. She successfully reclaimed her Flyweight Championship in her last fight against Alexa Grasso at UFC 306. Now she is on her second title run as Flyweight Champion and looks to get off on the right foot this Saturday at UFC 315 against dangerous striker Manon Fiorot. Will ‘The Bullet’ show why she is one of the most dominant champions we have ever seen, or will Manon Fiorot prove that her time has passed, and it’s the young woman's time to shine?
Valentina Shevchenko, in her first run as champion, successfully defended her Flyweight Championship seven times. She ran through basically the entire division. Four of those seven fights she was able to win by knockout. She arguably has zero holes in her game. She is a crisp striker, solid wrestler, and effective grappler. The trilogy with Alexa Grasso made people wonder if her time has passed as the pinnacle of women’s MMA. However, at UFC 306, she proved that she is still as good as she has ever been, as she was able to win every single round in that fight. In this upcoming fight, the key to victory will be her wrestling. If she can use her wrestling to wear down Fiorot, she will be able to slow her down on the feet like she did to Grasso. Once women are thinking about potentially being taken down or waiting for Valentina to shoot, they end up falling behind on the strikes. If this fight plays out that way, I can see Valentina retaining her belt by decision.
Manon Fiorot, since joining the UFC in 2021, has seven straight wins and zero losses. She has beaten the likes of Rose Namajunas, Erin Blanchfield, and Katlyn Chookagian, just to name a few. She has a 93% takedown defense and proved in her last fight against Blanchfield that she can keep any fight on the feet and beat you purely by outstriking you. The French Challenger will use her pace and pressure to put Valentina on her back foot and use her range striking to stack combinations together. If she can keep the fight on the feet and avoid clinching situations, she will be able to slowly pick apart ‘The Bullet’. If she uses her size and lateral movement to keep Valentina at arm's length, she can pull away and become the new Flyweight Champion.
This is going to be such an intriguing fight between two of the best the Flyweight Division has to offer. It’s going to be high-level exchanges from start to finish, and the fight could go either way. You know how talented and dangerous the opposition is when a legend like Valentina is coming into this fight as the underdog. No matter who wins this fight, you won’t want to miss all the action this Saturday at UFC 315 with a main card start time of 10:00 P.M. EST.
