UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko circled back on Manon Fiorot’s wager at UFC 315.
Valentina Shevchenko‘s second UFC women’s flyweight title reign began by snapping top contender Manon Fiorot‘s 12-fight winning streak at UFC 315 on Saturday in Montreal. After Fiorot had some early success against the champion, leaving Shevchenko in some dangerous positions, the titleholder was able to find her rhythm in the mid-rounds and frustrate the challenger.
After a late knockdown and five rounds of exciting action, Shevchenko got the nod on the judges’ scorecards by unanimous decision to retain her title. She reclaimed the flyweight belt by defeating Alexa Grasso at UFC 306 in September.
Leading up to UFC 315, things got testy between Shevchenko and Fiorot ahead of their title fight. Fiorot pitched that the loser of their title fight should retire after UFC 315, and Shevchenko didn’t forget it after retaining the belt.
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Valentina Shevchenko wraps post-fight presser by answering Manon Fiorot’s pre-fight wager
After picking up the win at UFC 315, Shevchenko is in the clear when it comes to Fiorot’s retirement wager. Fiorot, after her 12-fight winning streak came to an abrupt end, was on the losing end of her proposal at UFC 315.
Despite the pre-fight banter between Shevchenko and Fiorot ahead of UFC 315, Shevchenko is willing to give Fiorot a free pass on her earlier retirement bet.
During the UFC 315 post-fight press conference, Shevchenko implored Fiorot not to hold to her pre-fight proposal.
“I’d like to add one more thing, to be very clear,” Shevchenko said as she concluded her post-fight media availability.
“Before the fight, Manon said that if she won, I would retire. I responded to her that if I won, she would retire. 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…I don’t know if someone put it in her mouth to sell the fight, and she may feel like she has to retire…
“No, no, no. Don’t follow your words, please stay fighting.”
Fiorot was unbeaten in her UFC tenure before falling to Shevchenko at UFC 315. She defeated the likes of Erin Blanchfield, Rose Namajunas, and Katlyn Chookagian as she moved up into the UFC flyweight title picture.
As for what’s next for Shevchenko, she has a potential super fight on her radar after UFC 315 with a fellow titleholder.
UFC champ aimed veiled callout at Valentina Shevchenko after she defeated Manon Fiorot
After watching Shevchenko’s performance, UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili congratulated the champion and pitched a future fight between the two stars. Weili said the Shevchenko is ‘destined’ to happen after their recent victories.
A potential super fight between Weili and Shevchenko has been pitched for months, dating back to Weili’s strawweight title defense against Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 last year. Fight talks reignited after Weili’s dominant performance against Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312 in February.
UFC CEO Dana White has teased a potential Shevchenko vs. Weili clash in the past, but nothing has come to fruition. Amidst uncertainty regarding Shevchenko and Weili’s next title defenses, the timing is better than ever for a potential booking.