Despite defeating Manon Fiorot at UFC 315, Valentina Shevchenko made it clear she does not want her victory to be the reason Fiorot ends her fighting career.
The subject of retirement was part of the pre-fight discussion leading up to Saturday`s co-main event. Fiorot, 35, had proposed that Shevchenko retire if she lost, and Shevchenko responded by suggesting Fiorot should face the same consequence if she were defeated. Shevchenko ultimately won the back-and-forth bout via unanimous decision to successfully defend her flyweight title.
However, Shevchenko stated that the wager was never intended to be taken seriously and implored Fiorot not to retire during her post-fight media appearance.
“To be very clear, before the fight Manon [suggested] that if she won, I retire,” Shevchenko said. “I responded to her, if I won, she retires. So I completely don’t want her to retire. This is what I really don’t want her to follow her words because I feel it’s unfair for the fighter because someone put [the words] in her mouth to promote the fight or something like that and now she feels she has to retire? No, don’t follow your words, please stay fighting.”
Shevchenko, who turned 37 in March, also indicated she likely wouldn`t have retired even if she had lost, but her strong performance meant she didn`t have to make that decision. “Bullet” effectively countered the aggressive style of the larger Fiorot over five rounds, securing unanimous 48-47 scores from the judges.
She credited training with her sister, Antonina, who recently retired from fighting, for helping her prepare for Fiorot`s southpaw stance.
“During my fighting career, my main partner, one of the main partners was my sister and she’s southpaw,” Shevchenko explained. “Her kicks and her punches are incomparable. So the speed, the power, and everything and working with her during all these years is kind of like, now when Manon throws the kicks, I kind of see them from very, very far.”
Future Opponents
With this victory, Shevchenko is in a dominant position once again as she looks towards her next championship defense. Strawweight champion Zhang Weili has expressed significant interest in a potential superfight.
However, flyweight contender Natalia Silva also made a strong case for herself on the same fight card. Silva put on a dominant performance against former 125-pound champion Alexa Grasso, improving her UFC record to 7-0 and solidifying her status as a potential top contender.
Shevchenko stated she has no particular preference between the two possible opponents, suggesting the fans could play a role in deciding who she faces next.
“Everyone was saying Weili or Natalia?” Shevchenko remarked. “So I don’t know, maybe fans can play some role in that and if they can join my OnlyFans page and drop some messages who they want to see me fight next, we’ll compare who’s next.”
