If nothing else, the canceled UFC Vegas 107 main event may have simplified things for Valentina Shevchenko.
Though not a stacked lineup, Saturday’s Apex card did look set to be an important one in the context of the women’s flyweight division, which Shevchenko is ruling over for a second time.
Scheduled to headline were two top five contenders in Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber, both of whom were looking to stake their claim for the next shot at ‘Bullet’.
But Barber’s medical issue canceled the Blanchfield main event on just minutes’ notice, leading to a disappointing end to UFC Vegas 107.
The potential silver lining, however, is a clearer championship scenario for Shevchenko.
Valentina Shevchenko narrows down opponent options to Zhang Weili and Natalia Silva
Shevchenko was in attendance at the UFC Apex Saturday night, expecting to see a surging contender stake their claim in the main event.
With that not being the case, the Kyrgyz fighter clarified her situation during an appearance on ESPN’s UFC Post Show.
The flyweight queen narrowed down her options to top flyweight contender Natalia Silva and reigning strawweight champion Zhang Weili, but did not reveal her preference.
“Natalia’s performance was very good,” Shevchenko said. “Flyweight, right now, is the most exciting weight class…but from the other side, you can see the champion, Weili Zhang, strawweight.
“She built up her career. She deserves so much because all of her defending the title,” Shevchenko continued. “Definitely I feel at this point she deserves this fight.
“It’s not happening this fight, today. But I could choose like, okay, Natalia Silva, Weili Zhang. Maybe like Erin or Maycee but they never fought, so…”
Shevchenko defeated Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 on May 10. On the same night, Silva climbed toward the top of the ladder at 125 pounds by beating former champ Alexa Grasso.
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Zhang Weili called Valentina Shevchenko out for a UFC super fight
Ordinarily, the UFC would perhaps have an easy time putting together Shevchenko vs Silva. After all, the Brazilian defeated a woman who held the flyweight gold as recently as September 2024 to earn the division’s No. 1 ranking.
But the timing is unfortunate for Silva, who has positioned herself for a first title shot at the same time as the leading name from the weight class below targets two-division supremacy.
Soon after the flyweight champ’s title defense in Canada, Zhang called Shevchenko out with a Conor McGregor-esque video on Instagram, which showed the Chinese star watching as ‘Bullet’ celebrated her victory.
“Congratulations to the champion,” Zhang wrote in the caption. “Everything has lined up perfectly, it‘s destiny.”
It remains to be seen which way the UFC and Shevchenko will go for her next defense, but either way, a stern test will await the legendary flyweight next time out.