Valentina Shevchenko Plans to Show She's Ready For Title Shot
Valentina Shevchenko Plans to Show She's Ready For Title Shot
UFC women's bantamweight Valentina Shevchenko plans to leave no doubt she's ready for a championship opportunity.
The UFC are back in business this weekend with UFC on Fox 23.
The show will be headlined by a women's bantamweight bout between Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko in a fight that will determine who next faces champion Amanda Nunes.
Ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively, both Shevchenko and Pena are at the final hurdle before getting a title shot at the Brazilian and both women are coming into the bout with unshakeable confidence having put together winning runs over some of the best in the division.
In her last outing in the Octagon, Shevchenko beat former champion Holy Holm impressively over the course of five rounds and now finds herself just one win away from a rematch with the only woman to beat her in the UFC so far. While some would be feeling the pressure of the situation, Shevchenko feels like her preparations have given her the best chance of victory.
"I'm feeling absolutely great," Shevchenko told MMAJunke Radio. "I'm ready 100-percent for the fight and on Saturday, January 28, I will show the best of me to get the victory.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPmQSsoDZZs/" hide_caption="0"]
"I've really focused on this fight on Saturday because I know I have to focus in this fight in order to get the victory. All my thoughts are about this Saturday. Of course, it's more than likely the winner of this fight on Saturday will fight for the title, but it will come after the fight. All my thoughts and all my energy and everything are on the fight this Saturday."
Having had her last four fights go to a decision, Shevchenko admitted the step up in level of competition had made her find it much harder to finish opponents than earlier on in her career. Given her recent form though, this wasn't something that was bothering her too much.
"It's not every time you can finish your opponent," Shevchenko said. "Sometimes it will go to a decision. It's a sport, sometimes you have knockouts, sometimes you have submissions, and sometimes you have submissions.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPnwXcgjEA_/" hide_caption="0"]
"It's just case of making sure you train hard every time and prepare for each fight 150-percent so you are in good physical and mental condition. It really doesn't matter. It [going to a decision] matters only if you're in bad from."
With many experts calling this a typical striker versus grappler styles matchup, Shevchenko doesn't believe it's all that straight forward and is looking forward to showing her full arsenal on fight night.
"I don't want to say anything because I will show them everything," Shevchenko said. "I don't want to talk to much--I just prefer to show them what I have."
The show will be headlined by a women's bantamweight bout between Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko in a fight that will determine who next faces champion Amanda Nunes.
Ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively, both Shevchenko and Pena are at the final hurdle before getting a title shot at the Brazilian and both women are coming into the bout with unshakeable confidence having put together winning runs over some of the best in the division.
In her last outing in the Octagon, Shevchenko beat former champion Holy Holm impressively over the course of five rounds and now finds herself just one win away from a rematch with the only woman to beat her in the UFC so far. While some would be feeling the pressure of the situation, Shevchenko feels like her preparations have given her the best chance of victory.
"I'm feeling absolutely great," Shevchenko told MMAJunke Radio. "I'm ready 100-percent for the fight and on Saturday, January 28, I will show the best of me to get the victory.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPmQSsoDZZs/" hide_caption="0"]
"I've really focused on this fight on Saturday because I know I have to focus in this fight in order to get the victory. All my thoughts are about this Saturday. Of course, it's more than likely the winner of this fight on Saturday will fight for the title, but it will come after the fight. All my thoughts and all my energy and everything are on the fight this Saturday."
Having had her last four fights go to a decision, Shevchenko admitted the step up in level of competition had made her find it much harder to finish opponents than earlier on in her career. Given her recent form though, this wasn't something that was bothering her too much.
"It's not every time you can finish your opponent," Shevchenko said. "Sometimes it will go to a decision. It's a sport, sometimes you have knockouts, sometimes you have submissions, and sometimes you have submissions.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BPnwXcgjEA_/" hide_caption="0"]
"It's just case of making sure you train hard every time and prepare for each fight 150-percent so you are in good physical and mental condition. It really doesn't matter. It [going to a decision] matters only if you're in bad from."
With many experts calling this a typical striker versus grappler styles matchup, Shevchenko doesn't believe it's all that straight forward and is looking forward to showing her full arsenal on fight night.
"I don't want to say anything because I will show them everything," Shevchenko said. "I don't want to talk to much--I just prefer to show them what I have."