Valentina Shevchenko thwarted yet another contender coming for her title as she completely shut down and dominated Zhang Weili across five rounds in the UFC 322 co-main event.
Showing off her size and power, Shevchenko bullied Zhang in almost every exchange on the feet and on the ground as the former strawweight champion just had no answer while producing almost zero offense during the 25 minute battle. Shevchenko won on the feet and on the ground to defend her flyweight title with all three judges
handing her the shutout with 50-45 scores across the board.
“I was preparing for this fight as the hardest challenge in my life,” Shevchenko said after her latest title defense. “This is what I call the art of martial arts. When they are here in front of me, they cannot do anything.
From the start, Shevchenko established a long, striking attack with a hard body kick and then blistering quick punches in succession. With Zhang trying to close the distance, Shevchenko blasted her with a huge knee to the gut that dropped the former strawweight champion the canvas as they moved into a grappling exchange.
Back on the feet, Shevchenko uncorked a spinning back fist that cracked Zhang before securing a takedown right into side control. Shevchenko was methodical in her ground attack, peppering away at Zhang and looking to advance her position until the first round ended.
Shevchenko secured another takedown after she grabbed onto Zhang from the clinch and just brought her crashing to the canvas again. She maintained side control with Shevchenko potentially setting up the crucifix position where she’s finished past opponents.
With Zhang trying desperately to scramble, Shevchenko maintained a dominant position on top, although she eventually got pulled back into half-guard. That allowed Zhang a moment of reprieve but Shevchenko was just dominant in top control.
Shevchenko also started catching Zhang with a slick counter punch every time her opponent tried to dive forward with a combination. A nasty left and a violent right continued to find a home on Zhang’s chin as Shevchenko was quick and decisive with her striking.
Another knee to the body from Shevchenko backed Zhang off again and the flyweight champion’s confidence continued to surge. Shevchenko ultimately secured another takedown and she was just suffocating on top with Zhang having no answer from the bottom.
As the fight moved into the championship rounds, Shevchenko was really abusing Zhang to the body and doing maximum damage along the way. Zhang just had no answer as she was stuck trying to guess what Shevchenko was going to do next.
With the fight clearly slipping away from her, Zhang shifted into desperation mode but even that was quickly countered with Shevchenko shutting her down. Shevchenko snatched yet another takedown and just drained the last bit of effort out of Zhang as her hopes of becoming a two-division champion faded away.
“I want to congratulate Valentina Shevchenko,” Zhang said following her loss. “I feel sorry for all the fans that supported me. I will not stop trying. I will continue to march forward. I’m probably going to take a break and rest and just think about [what’s next]”
It all likelihood, Zhang can go back to strawweight where Mackenzie Dern was just recently crowned champion in her absence.
As for Shevchenko, she named Natalia Silva and Erin Blanchfield as potential contenders at flyweight and also took notice that the reigning bantamweight champion mentioned her by name recently.
“I have a couple of options in the flyweight division,” Shevchenko said. “I heard Kayla Harrison is calling me out so I have a lot of options.”
