{"id":269729,"date":"2018-02-08T18:14:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T02:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=269729"},"modified":"2018-02-08T18:14:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T02:14:04","slug":"invicta-flyweight-champ-jennifer-maia-isnt-afraid-valentina-shevchenko-ill-fight-whoever-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/jennifer-maia\/invicta-flyweight-champ-jennifer-maia-isnt-afraid-valentina-shevchenko-ill-fight-whoever-front\/","title":{"rendered":"Invicta Flyweight Champ, Jennifer Maia Isn’t Afraid of Valentina Shevchenko, “I\u2019ll fight whoever is in front of me”"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you bring up the discussion of best female flyweight fighters in the world today, very few if any will say that Invicta FC champion, Jennifer Maia isn’t #1. The Curitiba, Brazil native, Maia has defended her title twice and is currently on a six-fight winning streak that includes wins over Vanessa Porto, Agnieszka Niedzwiedz, and Roxanne Modaferri.<\/p>\n

Around the time that the UFC was ready to crown their inaugural 125-pound champion after a season of The Ultimate Fighter, Maia was ready to defend her title the week after. As one might imagine, Maia should have been a part of the tournament to decide the UFC’s first flyweight champion. Instead, Maia turned down the offer to participate on the show and as she told MMAFighting<\/a>, it was for a pretty understandable reason:<\/p>\n

“They invited me to be on The Ultimate Fighter, but since I\u2019m the Invicta champion I thought that I don\u2019t need to go through TUF to be in the UFC. Sometimes you\u2019re not in a good day there and end up losing, and it\u2019s not smart to leave a promotion where I\u2019m the champion to try something.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After Maia successfully defended her title and a UFC champion was crowned in Nicco Montano, it was time for her to make the jump to the UFC. At least…we assumed so.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The UFC had offered Maia a fight against the recent 135-pound UFC title challenger, Valentina Shevchenko for Shevchenko’s UFC flyweight debut and Maia’s UFC debut. To which Maia initially turned down but is now more ready for than ever:<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t choose opponents.” Maia told MMAFighting<\/a>, “The moment they offered me this fight, I turned it down because I was coming off a surgery and then a fight, and I needed some time to rest and respect my body. I chose to decline it that time. I would accept to fight her now. We said we would take this fight if we had more time to prepare because I was just coming off a fight. Right now, I don\u2019t choose. Whoever they offer me, I\u2019d say yes. I got back to training a while ago and I don\u2019t choose [opponents]. I\u2019ll fight whoever is in front of me. I think that Valentina will have her post-fight recovery now, but I\u2019d definitely accept to fight her or any other opponent they want.<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing done yet but we\u2019re waiting for good news to at least sign the contract.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It would come as a big surprise if Maia’s next fight doesn’t come in the UFC, especially considering that they’re already negotiating. But crazier things have happened.<\/p>\n

Who would you like to see one of 125’s best make her UFC debut against?<\/p>\n