If nothing else, the canceled UFC Vegas 107 principal occasion might have simplified issues for Valentina Shevchenko.
Although not a stacked lineup, Saturday’s Apex card did look set to be an vital one within the context of the women’s flyweight division, which Shevchenko is ruling over for a second time.
Scheduled to headline have been two high 5 contenders in Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber, each of whom have been trying to stake their declare for the following shot at ‘Bullet’.
However Barber’s medical issue canceled the Blanchfield main event on simply minutes’ discover, resulting in a disappointing finish to UFC Vegas 107.
The potential silver lining, nevertheless, is a clearer championship state of affairs for Shevchenko.
Valentina Shevchenko narrows down opponent choices to Zhang Weili and Natalia Silva
Shevchenko was in attendance on the UFC Apex Saturday night time, anticipating to see a surging contender stake their declare in the primary occasion.
With that not being the case, the Kyrgyz fighter clarified her scenario throughout an look on ESPN’s UFC Publish Present.
The flyweight queen narrowed down her choices to high flyweight contender Natalia Silva and reigning strawweight champion Zhang Weili, however didn’t reveal her desire.
“Natalia’s efficiency was excellent,” Shevchenko stated. “Flyweight, proper now, is essentially the most thrilling weight class…however from the opposite aspect, you’ll be able to see the champion, Weili Zhang, strawweight.
“She constructed up her profession. She deserves a lot as a result of all of her defending the title,” Shevchenko continued. “Positively I really feel at this level she deserves this battle.
“It’s not taking place this battle, at present. However I might select like, okay, Natalia Silva, Weili Zhang. Perhaps like Erin or Maycee however they by no means fought, so…”
Shevchenko defeated Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 on Could 10. On the identical night time, Silva climbed towards the highest of the ladder at 125 kilos by beating former champ Alexa Grasso.
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Zhang Weili referred to as Valentina Shevchenko out for a UFC tremendous battle
Ordinarily, the UFC would maybe have a straightforward time placing collectively Shevchenko vs Silva. In any case, the Brazilian defeated a girl who held the flyweight gold as lately as September 2024 to earn the division’s No. 1 rating.
However the timing is unlucky for Silva, who has positioned herself for a primary title shot similtaneously the main identify from the burden class under targets two-division supremacy.
Quickly after the flyweight champ’s title protection in Canada, Zhang called Shevchenko out with a Conor McGregor-esque video on Instagram, which confirmed the Chinese language star watching as ‘Bullet’ celebrated her victory.
“Congratulations to the champion,” Zhang wrote within the caption. “All the things has lined up completely, it‘s future.”
It stays to be seen which approach the UFC and Shevchenko will go for her subsequent protection, however both approach, a stern check will await the legendary flyweight subsequent day trip.
