UFC flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko wants a third fight with Amanda Nunes, who holds the promotion’s bantamweight and featherweight belts.
Shevchenko and Nunes, two of the greatest female fighters of all time, have fought twice previously. Nunes won both of those fights by decision, but both were extremely close—particularly the second.
Speaking on Hablemos MMA this week, Shevchenko shared her belief that she deserved the judges’ decision in that second fight with Nunes, and called for a trilogy fight with her long-time rival.
“I think it would be logical,” Shevchenko said (via MMA Junkie). “She’s been going through her opponents very easily, and I think that for the future, it would be logical to have a third fight because the second fight … I didn’t lose it. I won it.”
Today, Nunes and Shevchenko are two of the most dominant champions in MMA, and it’s difficult to picture either woman being defeated. At this stage, at third fight between them is arguably the biggest fight possible in women’s MMA.
Shevchenko certainly feels the bout would be a big one, and believes she’d have a real chance of overthrowing the bantamweight champ, even if the fight reaches the judges’ scorecards.
“This fight right now, as champion vs. champion, I think the judges will have a different outlook towards the fight,” Shevchenko said. “Three years ago in 2017 when we had our fight, they thought that just that one thing gave her the victory, and that was the takedown she got in the fifth round. She didn’t even start it – it was me who initiated. But since it was the final round, we were both slippery. She’s heavier, so I ended on bottom when I was supposed to land on top.
“That’s the only thing that gave her a small advantage in the eyes of the judges that night. But that’s how it went down, and I think it would be very logical to have that third fight between us.”
While Shevchenko is eager to fight Nunes again, however, she says that her current focus is on defending her flyweight title, starting with her UFC 255 fight with Jennifer Maia.
“To be honest, I don’t know (when I’d like to fight Nunes) and I haven’t thought about it because right now I’m focused on my weight class – 125 pounds,” Shevchenko said. “All I have in mind these days is being dominant and retain my belt again and again, and that’s what I think of when I put thought in my near future. I think if this fight goes down in the future, I would definitely like to have the fans around me and the public back and not in an empty arena.”
Does a potential trilogy fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko interest you? Who do you think would win?