Valentina Shevchenko looked human for the first time in her historic flyweight run.
At UFC 275, Shevchenko took a razor-close split decision over Taila Santos after being taken down and controlled several times. By the time the scorecards were read, many people were holding their breath as UFC 275 was the closest that ‘Bullet’ has been beaten in several years.
More damage
With a very close split decision, the phrase robbery was thrown out, but Shevchenko stood by the decision.
“I did everything I had to do. I had challenging fight. I had five rounds, and this is exactly what I wanted, an opponent who is not giving up in the first second and goes until the end,” Shevchenko told reporters during her UFC 275 post-fight interview. “In this kind of fight, you can show what you’re made of. Your character, your mindset. No matter how hard, no matter how difficult.
“She was inactive, and me being even in that position I was striking, and I was feeling the power of the strikes, and I felt how she reacted because it was hurting her. This is what counts the most in mixed martial arts, is damage. I could even feel in the fight round to round, you could see more damage showing on her face more and more.”
Santos definitely had damage on her face, but most of it came from an accidental clash of heads that broke the Brazilian’s orbital bone.
Taila Santos is going under the knife after #UFC275
More from @guicruzzz 📰 https://t.co/ENWQ1P3UHV pic.twitter.com/C4IfdiV8i9
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) June 12, 2022
Santos’ manager confirmed to MiddleEasy that she would undergo surgery in Brazil to fix her broken orbital.
Record-breaking defense
As for Schevchenko, she passed UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey‘s all-time title defense record, and with another win, she will pass former featherweight king Jose Aldo.
With her win at #UFC275, Valentina Shevchenko passes Ronda Rousey for the most consecutive title defenses in a female weight class 🏆
(via @BulletValentina) pic.twitter.com/s41aiQPot0
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 12, 2022
