Should Valentina Schevchenko gain some muscle?

[Gorbag]

If Valentina moves down she will lose some of her explosiveness, gaining more muscle will give her more power and be useful in grapple exanges. Muscle and strength seem to be the quality that is most easy to improve for her now, even as little as 4 - 5 pound can change things.

 

[krelianx]

I think that's the key to beating her. Press her up against the fence, get her tired. Wrestle her. That's McMann's game. Holly can't do any of that unfortunately and it cost her

Yep. Valentina needs to control her distance, and she's not going to be able to muscle many girls at 135lbs to secure a thai clinch in the inside. Girls like Cat, Amanda and Holly are just too big. Against Nunes, even her striking seemed ineffective when taken out of her usual range.

Someone like McMann would bully her into a dirty fight. Even if her takedown defense is strong, she will just not be strong enough to ward her off for an entire fight, and though her angles and speed are good, that's a very uphill battle.I think Valentina needs to use these months training BJJ and wrestling intensively if she intends to stay at 135. I don't know what kind of training partners she has, but she should learn to be an offensive grappler unless she wants to be pressed into a defensive shell.

 

[Bork Neslar]

Another absurd thread. Surprising.

 

[scorpipede]

Why would she need to bulk up when she just beat the biggest girl in the Bantanweight division?

And .. putting on 10 legit pounds of lean muscle mass is not something that Valentina or anyone else for that matter, can accomplish within a short period of time. Adding more muscle may also negatively affect her performance in the cage, so no ... I do not think that Valentina should bulk up.

neither does Ron Swanson.

 

[scorpipede]

Another absurd thread. Surprising.

nothing wrong with this thread. You're awfully picky.

 

[Gervinho]

Yep. Valentina needs to control her distance, and she's not going to be able to muscle many girls at 135lbs to secure a thai clinch in the inside. Girls like Cat, Amanda and Holly are just too big. Against Nunes, even her striking seemed ineffective when taken out of her usual range.

Someone like McMann would bully her into a dirty fight. Even if her takedown defense is strong, she will just not be strong enough to ward her off for an entire fight, and though her angles and speed are good, that's a very uphill battle.I think Valentina needs to use these months training BJJ and wrestling intensively if she intends to stay at 135. I don't know what kind of training partners she has, but she should learn to be an offensive grappler unless she wants to be pressed into a defensive shell.

She beats limited fighters like cat and Sarah easily. She already beat Holly and had a close fight with Amanda which she was getting stronger as fight went on. She's 5'5....she doesnt need to become masssive and lose her main strength which is her speed. She is fine and will be the next champ

 

[Smelldog]

Valentina already seem to have some punching power but let her get some 10 pounds extra of quality muscles and she may start to knock out people as well! If I were Valentinas head coach I would immediatly put her on a muscle and strength regimen because that alone could be a game changer and make her way more dangerous in the bantamweight division.

So should tiny Valentina bulk up or not?

So you're basically saying if she was a man she would fight better?

Gosh, I hope you aren't in those two wmma threads on the front page posting about how much you love wmma!

 

[Gorbag]

So you're basically saying if she was a man she would fight better?

Females have muscles also Smellydog. Deal with it.

 

[Jesus X]

Valentina is a spectacular MMartist. She is fine being her current size

 

[Stan]

I think the only thing she should really work on are her leg kicks. Yes she can land a lot of them but if she were to put some real power into those kicks she would be a terror at that weight class. She landed so many leg kicks on Holm and it caused basically 0 damage. If she put some power into those kicks Holm wouldn't even be able to stand.

 

[krelianx]

She beats limited fighters like cat and Sarah easily. She already beat Holly and had a close fight with Amanda which she was getting stronger as fight went on. She's 5'5....she doesnt need to become masssive and lose her main strength which is her speed. She is fine and will be the next champ

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Lamfadha]

Yep. Valentina needs to control her distance, and she's not going to be able to muscle many girls at 135lbs to secure a thai clinch in the inside. Girls like Cat, Amanda and Holly are just too big. Against Nunes, even her striking seemed ineffective when taken out of her usual range.

Someone like McMann would bully her into a dirty fight. Even if her takedown defense is strong, she will just not be strong enough to ward her off for an entire fight, and though her angles and speed are good, that's a very uphill battle.I think Valentina needs to use these months training BJJ and wrestling intensively if she intends to stay at 135. I don't know what kind of training partners she has, but she should learn to be an offensive grappler unless she wants to be pressed into a defensive shell.

Thai's throw around foreigners in the clinch all the time while being outweighed 30-60 pounds. Like most grappling it requires off balance and perfect hand position over raw strength to achieve the same effect.

 

[krelianx]

Thai's throw around foreigners in the clinch all the time while being outweighed 30-60 pounds. Like most grappling it requires off balance and perfect hand position over raw strength to achieve the same effect.

And BJJ practicioners will control a much heavier untrained person. When you have an athlete who is going to be well trained and has strength and size on you things get very difficult. Size matters.

I don't see Valentina being consistently succesful in a division where there are bigger pressure fighters who know the in-fighting well. Again, like Sara.

She can definitely be competitive at the top, we saw it with Nunes and Holly. I doubt she can fight her fight consistently going against the tide of size every time.

 

[SlicerDM]

She looked pretty thick to me, especially her thighs.

 

[Lamfadha]

And BJJ practicioners will control a much heavier untrained person. When you have an athlete who is going to be well trained and has strength and size on you things get very difficult. Size matters.

I don't see Valentina being consistently succesful in a division where there are bigger pressure fighters who know the in-fighting well. Again, like Sara.

She can definitely be competitive at the top, we saw it with Nunes and Holly. I doubt she can fight her fight consistently going against the tide of size every time.

I believe her clinch work is the same skill difference or slightly less to allow it to work or else I wouldn't mention it.

 

[krelianx]

I believe her clinch work is the same skill difference or slightly less to allow it to work or else I wouldn't mention it.

So how come she couldn't make it happen against Holly? She was pressured and controlled in closer quarters.

 

[Lamfadha]

So how come she couldn't make it happen against Holly? She was pressured and controlled in closer quarters.

Winning at range and she just took her down and worked in half guard if she grappled. Maybe she wasn't confident and decided it would be less risky instead of trying to prove to herself she could do it.

Just because I think she can do it doesn't mean she can or that she thinks she can do it. It is all hypothetical I am just saying to write off that she would be bullied in the clinch as a given because she is small is not quite correct.

 

[krelianx]

Winning at range and she just took her down and worked in half guard if she grappled. Maybe she wasn't confident and decided it would be less risky instead of trying to prove to herself she could do it.

Just because I think she can do it doesn't mean she can or that she thinks she can do it. It is all hypothetical I am just saying to write off that she would be bullied in the clinch as a given because she is small is not quite correct.

That is not correct. In the first two rounds, Holly controlled the in fighting, before Valentina could secure the takedown. It makes no sense she would just 'allow' herself to be pressed on and controlled because she was winning elsewhere if she could. Of course, once she landed the takedowns she regained advantage, but that doesn't explain how she chose to give position in the infighting.

The idea that she could but didn't because she was winning elsewhere is not very plausible.

 

[Eater of Souls]

Valentina already seem to have some punching power but let her get some 10 pounds extra of quality muscles and she may start to knock out people as well! If I were Valentinas head coach I would immediatly put her on a muscle and strength regimen because that alone could be a game changer and make her way more dangerous in the bantamweight division.

So should tiny Valentina bulk up or not?

10 lbs of muscle for a woman who relies on speed and technique is not only difficult considering her training volume, but might be counter-productive. A couple of pounds, sure.

That being said, hopefully a 125 division will open up and that would be ideal for her.

 

[NinjaNiK]

I think the only thing she should really work on are her leg kicks. Yes she can land a lot of them but if she were to put some real power into those kicks she would be a terror at that weight class. She landed so many leg kicks on Holm and it caused basically 0 damage. If she put some power into those kicks Holm wouldn't even be able to stand.

You should rewatch the fight, and also take a look at Holly during the post fight presser, specifically her neck ... Holly has a very large and hideous looking bruise on her neck from the wheel kick that Shev landed .. on her neck.

You could also see the bruising on Holly's thighs from those kicks as the fight went on ... Valentina's kicks were absolutely doing damage in that fight.