What happens after a champion has filled in all the ruby slots on their UFC championship belt? We may find out in another year or two given the wild run Valentina Shevchenko is on.
Shevchenko filled out the first gold plate on her belt with 8 gem slots (representing 8 title wins) in September 2024, and now has two more gems in the second plate — the latest from defending her strawweight title against former flyweight champion Zhang Weili at UFC 322.
Zhang was expected to be “Bullet’s” toughest opponent.
Instead, Shevchenko handled her with ease on the feet and completely dominated her against the cage and on the canvas. That leaves us wondering who she can face that might actually challenge her. And speaking at the UFC 322 post-fight press conference, Valentina gave her thoughts on that.
“[Bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison] is one of the possibilities, and I’ll consider this,” she said. “I feel there are good challengers at flyweight, as well. Erin [Blanchfield], Natalia [Silva]. And at bantamweight now we have Amanda [Nunes] or Kayla [Harrison].”
“I think probably fans would like to see Amanda trilogy, because it’s unfinished business. But at the same time, it’s unclear: Is she returning, or not returning? Is she fighting or not fighting? It’s unknown in what shape she’s going to return. Half Amanda? Maybe full Amanda? Who knows. But Kayla is another possibility, and it’s going to be a super challenge.”
Whatever the case, the 37-year-old Shevchenko plans to stick around as long as possible. Speaking to UFC’s About Last Fight show following her Madison Square Garden win, “Bullet” explained her mentality and why she has no plan to quit.
“I just want to be here because martial arts, for me, is my lifestyle. It’s my philosophy, it’s everything for me. I see the world through the prism of martial arts … I wanna break all limits, what fighters and people have in their head. They say, ‘Okay, after a certain age, you are old. You cannot fight anymore.’ So I wanna break all these things and say that there is no limits.”
“If you don’t set limits in your head, there is no limit,” she concluded. “Just keep doing what you love to do.”
