As I’ve written about several times before on this blog, the UFC women’s divisions, by and large, suffer from a crisis of dominant champions. Amanda Nunes has occupied 135 and 145 by herself for a couple years now, serving as a seemingly uncrackable glass ceilings for half the women’s divisions in the organization.
Then, there’s Valentina Shevchenko. The world flyweight champion has looked untouchable since dropping to 125 in 2018, and is embarking on a title run for the ages. Her streak of four straight title defenses makes already it one of the longest in women’s UFC history, putting her with names like Nunes, Ronda Rousey and the woman she beat for the championship, the great Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Fight fans have come to expect, like clockwork, two dominant wins from Shevchenko a year. Last Saturday was no different. Shevchenko entered her UFC 256 matchup with Jennifer Maia as a massive favorite – the Brazilian challenger had a rather dubious resume to be fighting for the belt, and on paper looked to be out of her depth.
Maia succeeded in making Shevchenko work a little bit: she was able to outmuscle the champion in the clinch at times, and unanimously won the second round after taking Shevchenko down and holding top position. But the skill level gap was stark. Shevchenko dominated every striking exchange and largely managed to outgrapple the the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, using her judo skill to take Maia down a number of times.
Like I said, like clockwork: 49-46 across the board, and the belt back around the waist of Valentina Shevchenko. The question right now isn’t who’s going to take the flyweight title from Shevchenko – we might not see that happen for quite a while. The question is, who even gets the next shot?
Shevchenko has cleared out the flyweight division in such a way that it’s largely bare of compelling challengers. Shevchenko violently dominated Katlyn Chookagian in February, ejecting her from the title picture, but the unanimous decision machine is remaining in place as a buffer for all rising contenders. Last week, she beat Cynthia Calvillo before proclaiming that anyone who wants to fight Shevchenko has to go through her.
I’ve never seen someone so forcefully take to the gatekeeper role, but it’s true – if you can’t beat Chookagian, you probably shouldn’t be fighting Shevchenko. The problem is, not many can beat Chookagian, a great pressure striker who pushes the pace and never tires. Maia lost to Chookagian a year ago and was shown to clearly not be on Shevchenko’s level.
So if we’re applying the Chookagian Test to prospective challengers, there’s one who sticks out. Former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade debuted at flyweight with a bang last month, making Chookagian’s liver quiver and stopping her inside the first round.
Andrade’s had an interesting run in the UFC. She started as one of the original crop of female UFC fighters in 2013, back when bantamweight was the only division on offer. She was tiny for the division, and had a middling run before dropping down all the way to 115. There, her imposing strength turned her into a dominant physical force, and drove her to a world title last year. But back-to-back losses to Weili Zhang and Rose Namajunas pushed her out of the immediate title picture, leading her to try her hand at 125.
I wrote at the time that 125 could be the perfect fit for Andrade. Although she’s only 5-foot-1, she’s very muscular and powerful, and we’ve seen that those traits play against the elite at 125 while also allowing for an easier weight cut. She has a UFC title on her resume, and she already dusted off the self-proclaimed gatekeeper to a flyweight title shot. To me, Shevchenko-Andrade seems like a no-brainer.
But not so fast, apparently. While we know that Dana White sees the appeal of an Shevchenko-Andrade fight, he’s all along seemed more interested in a champion vs. champion superfight for Shevchenko. And in the aftermath of Shevchenko’s win over Maia, he made it clear – he wants to book Shevchenko vs. Zhang, who beat Andrade for the strawweight title last August.
Zhang, winner of 21 consecutive fights, has been out of action since retaining her belt in a Fight of the Year contender against Jedrzejczyk in March. She’s expected to face Namajunas early next year, and White is targeting her fight with Shevchenko to follow that. One would have to expect the fight to be at 125, with Shevchenko’s flyweight title the one on the line.
Shevchenko-Zhang would be a terrific fight between two of the world’s best, but I don’t think it’s the one that should be made. Zhang has stuff to do at 115, the deepest women’s division in the UFC. She’s fighting Namajunas, a world-class contender. A rematch with Jedrzejczyk would be must-see. She could fight countrywoman Yan Xiaonan, who has been surging to the top in recent months.
I think of champion vs. champion fights as a special attraction that should only happen when you have two people who have cleared out a division. Zhang doesn’t qualify yet. You know who does? Nunes, with whom Shevchenko has had a storied rivalry in her UFC career. The two legends have battled twice during Shevchenko’s days as a bantamweight, producing two remarkably close decision wins for Nunes.
While Nunes has two wins on her record, I don’t think anyone can say they were by any means decisive. Since she started her rise to legendary status in 2015, no one has fought her like Shevchenko has. And to me, one final go-around with Shevchenko, a matchup between the two best female fighters of all time, is the last truly interesting fight that exists for Amanda Nunes.
Very rarely can one fighter beat another twice, and a third fight between the two can still be so tantalizing. Shevchenko-Nunes III would be one of the biggest women’s MMA fights of all time, and a legacy-making victory for one of the greatest ever. Zhang is going to have her time. Let’s let the two best female fighters ever have theirs.
The Big Fight 