UFC women’s flyweight contender Liz Carmouche has released a statement following her unanimous decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of UFC Uruguay.

Here’s what ‘Girlrilla’ had to say on her Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1AofBJJKGy/

“Thank you to everyone that has helped me get here tonight. These people were a crucial part of this camp but there were so many more not pictured here. I can’t say thank you enought to @10thplanetoceanside@10thplanetsandiego@deependfitness @thearenagym@pso_rite @doc_william_kessler and so many more for helping me. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring home the win tonight. Congratulations to @bulletvalentina on your title retention”

It was a classy response by Carmouche after suffering a lopsided defeat to Shevchenko in the rematch between the two rivals, who first met back in 2010. Carmouche won that fight via doctor stoppage TKO nine years ago, but this time around Shevchenko proved she was the better fighter as she controlled nearly all 25 minutes of the fight.

Now the question is, what’s next for Carmouche? She is 35-years old and has failed in both her attempts to win UFC gold, first to Ronda Rousey for the bantamweight strap back in 2013 and now to Shevchenko for the flyweight strap in 2019. Still, she has a solid 5-5 record in the UFC and has proven she is tough and can hang in there with the best in the world. At this point, Carmouche appears destined to be a gatekeeper at 125lbs, but perhaps with some adjustments in her training she could make another run for the belt.

One thing Carmouche has going in her favor is her previous win over Shevchenko, as the UFC could eventually decide that a trilogy bout between these two rivals is something they are interested in booking for a card down the line. For now, though, Carmouche will get back to the drawing board after getting shut out on the scorecards to Shevchenko.

What did you think of Liz Carmouche’s performance against Valentina Shevchenko?