Shevchenko's Answer to Interviewer About if Murphy Was Her Toughest Opponent

[r-harper-1]

Must be nice being the big fish in a small pond

Big fish in a mud puddle

 

[Luckyme]

Valentina is fantastic. Her opponents are mostly awful.

Valentina definitely has ufc level skills but that division as a whole certainly doesn't belong in the ufc.

You could say the same thing about Nunes. Big fish small pond is basically what WMMA is these days. A handful of talented fighters dominating weaker competition.

 

[sfer1]

She isn't a tall woman. She is around 5'4. Even Rose is taller than her but she is quite thick compared to Rose. She cannot make 115 lbs. She can't win with some of you. At 135 she wins but she lacks the ability to finish. At 125lb she finishes then people complain it's too easy for her.

Valentina could definitely make 115 if she wanted to. Rose is the only top name at 115 that walks around lighter than her, but it's only by 4 or 5 pounds. Weili, Joanna, Andrade and Rodriguez walk around at the same weight or even heavier than Valentina.

 

[NoSmilez]

Valentina could definitely make 115 if she wanted to. Rose is the only top name at 115 that walks around lighter than her, but it's only by 4 or 5 pounds. Weili, Joanna and Rodriguez walks around at the same weight or even heavier than Valentina.

Dude Joanna almost dies when she makes 115. She was on video saying she cut 15 lbs for her fight and that took her out. At 130 lbs Joanna is still weighs less than Valentina's walkaround weight. Now look at Joanna against Valentina. Valentina is a much thicker person than Joanna in the video but you are telling me Joanna walks around heavier than Valentina.

"I don’t cut that much weight myself. I walk around at 125-pounds and by fight week I’m around 120-pounds. I still drink water, I just don’t eat solid food" This quote is from Rose

 

[ThePunisher]

Such a beautiful accent

Thank you

 

[eternal403]

People talking shit about her competition need to give their fucking heads a shake. Andrade, Eye, Joanna, Pena, Holm and put together the 2 best fights Nunez ever saw while beating her once IMO (who was also significantly bigger) and avenged her loss to Carmouche. Hell, her first UFC fight she was expected to get fucking demolished against Kaufman, who people forget has basically had every belt and was one of the top WP4P fighters.

 

[sfer1]

Dude Joanna almost dies when she makes 115. Now look at Joanna against Valentina. Valentina is a much thicker person than Joanna in the video but you are telling me Joanna walks around heavier than Valentina.

Valentina walks around at 133-134. Joanna is close to 140 now. Rodriguez is even bigger than Joanna.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

she is a big fish in the ocean...she has beat champs in divisions above and below hers

Nonsense. I understand wanting to defend Valentina, and she deserves it. She's demonstrated excellence in many ways and at many times. And you are also right that she has fought the best 125ers available in the women's divisions.

But the talent pool is obviously shallow. I don't take it as a knock on Shevchenko, who has had success across multiple divisions. But it's a relevant point when considering, as we are here, the relative toughness and challenge of her various challengers. For the most part, they aren't very good fighters.

 

[NoSmilez]

Valentina walks around at 133-134. Joanna is close to 140 now. Rodriguez is even bigger than Joanna.

Joanna does not weigh near 140. Women can't cut a lot of weight. Even 10 lbs is a lot for them. If Joanna is at 140 lbs. Why did she weigh in at 123 3/4 lbs for her fight with Valentina?

 

[sfer1]

"I don’t cut that much weight myself. I walk around at 125-pounds and by fight week I’m around 120-pounds. I still drink water, I just don’t eat solid food" This quote is from Rose

From earlier in her career. She does no longer walk around at 125. In case you haven't noticed, she has bulked up.




I know for a fact Tecia was 119 here. Are you telling me Rose has only 6 pounds on Tecia?

 

[eternal403]

Nonsense. I understand wanting to defend Valentina, and she deserves it. She's demonstrated excellence in many ways and at many times. And you are also right that she has fought the best 125ers available in the women's divisions.

But the talent pool is obviously shallow. I don't take it as a knock on Shevchenko, who has had success across multiple divisions. But it's a relevant point when considering, as we are here, the relative toughness and challenge of her various challengers. For the most part, they aren't very good fighters.

Do you want her to fight Usman? Isreal? Ngannou? Other than Zhang and Rose, there's literally no other top female for her to fight in ANY division. She's fought they best they had to offer. Don't hate her because she made it look easy and they ran out of contenders.

I sometimes wonder if you people are watching the same sport.

 

[jeskola]

Must be nice being the big fish in a small pond

 

[Krixes]

Val is awesome, I love the honesty...

 

[Wonderfight]

It is like people don't see what this women did to Andrade, Joanna and every high level women she fought. Also, she arguably defeated woman who is considere GOAT by many and who could easily fight at 155 if she wanted. What else is there, she is just levels above and for a good reason. She is excellent in everything that MMA has to offer and was also on top of the world in Muay Thai. What is wrong with some people. If Lauren Murphy was 10x fighter she is, she would lose. Valentina is quite possibly most skilled women in MMA ever. Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Boxing, Judo... She has legitimately achieved success in every one of those sports, at least on national level, in Muay Thai she did even much more that...

Point is, most women on world wouldn't do much more than Murphy.

 

[sfer1]

Joanna does not weigh near 140. Women can't cut a lot of weight. Even 10 lbs is a lot for them. If Joanna is at 140 lbs. Why did she weigh in at 123 3/4 lbs for her fight with Valentina?

Have you seen Joanna lately? She claims she's still training (I have no reason to doubt her), but she definitely looks 140. Considering she says she's only willing to fight Rose or Weili, I assume she intends to return at 115.

Forget Joanna, who may never fight again, if Rodriguez can make 115, so can Valentina. Marina is bigger than her.

 

[VinceArch]

Valentina didn't cut any weight to fight at 135. Nunes walks around 20-25 pounds heavier than her.

Okay. I'm not sure what your point was though.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Do you want her to fight Usman? Isreal? Ngannou? Other than Zhang and Rose, there's literally no other top female for her to fight in ANY division. She's fought they best they had to offer. Don't hate her because she made it look easy and they ran out of contenders.

I sometimes wonder if you people are watching the same sport.

This is a silly response; I'm not "hating" Shevchenko. I never said I wanted Shevchenko to fight anyone different and I credited her with fighting the best opponents available to her. Instead of going all "you people" here, I suggest you take a deep breath and try to be less defensive. I'm not accusing her of ducking anyone or not fighting the best opponents available. I'm agreeing with the obvious point being made, which is that the best opponents available currently in her division aren't very good.

As far as watching different sports goes, that may be true. Are you really unable to look at some of the fighters Shevchenko has faced and not see that objectively speaking they simply aren't very skilled? Do you really look at Jessica Eye or Lauren Murphy and see great fighters? I don't. It's not Shevchenko's fault, and when I look at her abilities, I do see greatness. But it's more than fair to point out that WMMA is extremely top heavy in terms of talent distribution.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

I really do love watching Shevs movement. It's so clean and has a finesse to it. Her opponents do suck tho but it is what it is

 

[Eater of Souls]

People talking shit about her competition need to give their fucking heads a shake. Andrade, Eye, Joanna, Pena, Holm and put together the 2 best fights Nunez ever saw while beating her once IMO (who was also significantly bigger) and avenged her loss to Carmouche. Hell, her first UFC fight she was expected to get fucking demolished against Kaufman, who people forget has basically had every belt and was one of the top WP4P fighters.

And she took the fight against Kaufman on 8 days notice when she was on vacation in Bali. Had dinner the night before weigh ins, weighed in at 123 and beat Kaufman who was #5 ranked at the time. I believe Kaufman was her lowest ranked opponent at 135 in UFC competition.

 

[mime]

funny response. i like her honesty