UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko will make her next title defense against Taila Santos at UFC 275 on June 11.
The news of the booking was first reported by MMA Fighting.
Shevchenko is coming off another dominant win over Lauren Murphy at UFC 266. She has won eight straight fights and earned six straight successful title defenses.
Shevchenko earned the title by defeating Joanna Jędrzejczyk for the vacant title at UFC 231. She earned a unanimous decision victory and followed it up with wins over Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, and Katlyn Chookagian.
One of Shevchenko’s few tests as the flyweight champion came against Jennifer Maia at UFC 255. It was a back-and-forth battle with Shevchenko winning the fight based on activity.
It was also announced today that Maia is scheduled to face Manon Fiorot at a UFC Fight Night event on March 26 on the promotion’s Columbus, OH card.
Santos will look to provide the toughest test of Shevchenko’s flyweight reign. A winner of four-straight bouts, she most recently earned a nasty first-round submission victory over Joanne Wood last November.
Santos has also earned lopsided victories over the likes of Molly McCann and Gillian Robertson.
Shevchenko had previously been interested in a trilogy bout with Amanda Nunes before Nunes lost in shocking fashion to Julianna Pena at UFC 269. Nunes will face Peña in a bantamweight title rematch later this year after coaching The Ultimate Fighter together.
UFC 275 is scheduled to be headlined by a UFC light heavyweight title bout between Glover Teixeira and Jiří Procházk.
Shevchenko has a win over the current bantamweight champion Peña and could face her in a rematch down the line. But Shevchenko will have to get past another tough test at flyweight before any talk of fighting at different weight classes resumes.
Do you think Taila Santos could give Valentina Shevchenko a challenge?
