This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 315, the women’s flyweight title was on the line. Champion Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1) was looking to successfully kick off her second title reign with a win over number one contender Manon Fiorot (12-2).
After losing her first professional bout, Fiorot had earned this title shot on the heels of 12 straight wins including six inside the octagon. Shevchenko dominated Alexa Grasso last September to regain the flyweight title and was looking to take out the division’s top contender.
In the first round, Shevchenko made a statement. She broke Fiorot’s nose and also took down and controlled the top contender. However, Fiorot was able to use her physicality to get back into the fight over the next two rounds. Fiorot had a lot of successful clinch work in rounds two and three. In the fourth round, Shevchenko dropped Fiorot at the end of the round and nearly finished her.
The fifth round was competitive but it felt like Shevchenko had the advantage. In this fight, Fiorot had a lot of control in the clinch but in terms of damage, the fight wasn’t close. When the cards were read at UFC 315, it was a unanimous decision win for Valentina Shevchenko.
What’s next after UFC 315?
I don’t think that Valentina Shevchenko gets the credit she deserves in terms of her greatness. She’s one of the greatest of all time and if you look at her career in the UFC, her three losses were three fights she could have won. Two close decision losses to Amanda Nunes where many believe she won both fights and then her loss to Alexa Grasso came after she made a mistake in a fight where she was well in control.
Outside of that, she’s been incredibly dominant inside the octagon. Earlier in the night, it appears that we found the next in line in terms of the flyweight contenders in Natalia Silva. Silva dominated Alexa Grasso and she should be the number one contender when the rankings come out this week.
That said, I don’t think she’s getting the next shot. I think that the UFC is going to pull the trigger with the superfight between Shevchenko and strawweight champion Zhang Weili. This is the fight that Weili wants and it’s the biggest women’s fight the promotion can make outside of Amanda Nunes returning. I would expect this fight to happen in late summer / early fall.