Coming into this fight as the underdog, Valentina Shevchenko had one of the toughest and closest fights of her career. But she ultimately came out on top against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event of UFC 315 to retain the UFC women’s flyweight championship.
Shevchenko got off to a strong start in the opening frame, being tactical with her striking and connecting solidly with her right hook early, taking advantage of Fiorot trying to be aggressive early. One of those shots connected right on Fiorot’s nose, busting her up. Shevchenko added a takedown before the end of the round.
Fiorot came out for a better second round. Despite some early struggle, she managed to land a takedown on Shevchenko and controlled the positioning and pace. Shevchenko, however, appeared to still be landing the more effective striking. The third round proved to be just as close, with Fiorot controlling the action in the clinch, landing some key knees and finding her power to land on Shevchenko.
Shevchenko, of course, would not be deterred. She picked her striking game back up, connecting powerful strikes and landing some notable body kicks. Shevchenko would then cement the round with a takedown and dropping the challenger with a hook in the closing seconds of the fourth.
After yet another close the fifth round, the fight went to the judges’ hands, with all three judges giving three rounds to Shevchenko, allowing her to retain the title.
Valentina Shevchenko Edges Out Manon Fiorot, Retains Flyweight Title
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This was the first title fight for Shevchenko since re-capturing the UFC women’s flyweight title in the trilogy fight with Alexa Grasso back in September. Shevchenko originally won the title at UFC 231 in December 2018, defending the title seven consecutive times before her upset loss to Grasso at UFC 285.
This was Fiorot’s first loss since dropping her professional MMA debut back in 2018. Fiorot had won 12 straight and was 7-0 in the UFC, which included wins against Jennifer Maia, Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield.
