Valentina Shevchenko believes she’s heading into her historic trilogy battle with Alexa Grasso with the sequence tied at one win apiece.
The flyweights meet within the first ever trilogy for ladies in firm historical past within the co-main occasion of UFC 306, which takes place Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas with Grasso’s 125-pound title up for grabs. Shevchenko seems to regain the championship she misplaced to Grasso at UFC 285 in March 2023.
Of their rematch at Noche UFC in September 2023, Grasso and Shevchenko delivered an immediate traditional however the battle resulted in a break up draw.
Grasso has given Shevchenko recommendation on find out how to method the third assembly in different interviews, however Shevchenko is totally assured that what she did of their second bout was sufficient to get her the victory.
“Studying between the strokes, it means like, ‘OK, OK, Valentina, If I keep on my facet of the octagon and also you play your recreation, I can be secure and I gained’t lose my belt,’ so she’s anticipating me keep on my facet and he or she’s on her facet, and we’re gonna do [a] shadowbox, or one thing like that,” Shevchenko instructed MMA Preventing. “And he or she’ll say, ‘OK, I’m a champion, I’m nonetheless going to have [the] belt,’ it’s so humorous.
“However, talking critically, you understand why we’re talking about third battle? It’s solely as a result of the second battle — everybody noticed the battle, everybody is aware of, everybody was very shocked due to the error and error of a choose, what he did and if it [were not for him], everybody noticed that I used to be the winner of this battle. I did sufficient to win the battle, like three rounds from the 5. It was sufficient to win the battle. It’s solely the rationale why we’re talking about our trilogy.
“The whole lot [that] I did, it labored, all the things, what I did within the second battle, all my technique, it labored. So I don’t know, possibly she was an excessive amount of into The Final Fighter teaching and since [then], they’re attempting to educate in all places, however that is effective. That is effective. I believe it’s additionally fascinating for the folks to listen to and see her from different sides, as effectively.”
The 36-year-old Shevchenko has been competing within the fight sports activities world for an enormous chunk of her life, together with 28 professional MMA fights — 16 of which have taken place within the UFC. Shevchenko has constructed a legacy as one of many biggest ladies’s fighters in promotion historical past, and lots of consider her ability set remains to be adequate to beat most fighters, however query whether or not she will defeat the youthful, surging champion.
Shevchenko thrives on folks doubting her after coming into many previous fights with a large chip on her shoulder. As she prepares to face Grasso for the third time, Shevchenko’s method entails bringing stress to her opponent, however not upon herself earlier than it occurs.
“It’s fascinating, however each time, each coaching camp, it’s completely different,” Shevchenko mentioned. “Each battle week is completely different, and even evaluating probably the greatest fights that I had, each time was completely different, like how I felt. However I do know for positive that, in phrases [of], making [a] assertion, make the one of many biggest fights, it’s an excessive amount of stress in your shoulders. It’s not good and generally it makes you freeze and you can not do something.
“And this time, I simply put together myself the very best that I can and my coach Pavel Fedotov, he was working so good with me… mentally, bodily, all the things, and you understand, the purpose for me proper now’s simply to indicate a tremendous battle, one of many biggest fights. Simply go there and present myself, present ‘The Bullet,’ what the pace is, what the facility is and similar to no cease, simply go ahead, ahead till the top. That is what I’ve. That is what’s my chip proper now, what program I’ve in my head.”
