Valentina Shevchenko: “I Will Gladly Fight Joanna Jedrzejczyk She Is A Real Professional”
Valentina Shevchenko and Nicco Montano should fight at the co-main event of the UFC 228, for the UFC Women’s Flyweight title. Yet, Nicco Montano was taken to the hospital and she had to withdraw due to kidney issues.
Valentina Shevchenko was hoping UFC will find a last-minute replacement. Yet, it didn’t happen. The Bullet believes she is going to have title opponent soon. (via ESPN.com)
“I could not believe it,” Shevchenko said Monday during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “I was hoping until the very last moment they would be able to find an opponent as a replacement for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, so now I wait again, a little more, and hopefully will have some name soon to fight for the title.”
UFC’s decision to strip Nicco Montano off the UFC Flyweight title caused some negative reactions. But Valentina Shevchenko stood by UFC.
“Yes, I agree with this decision and I think it’s totally right,” she said. “What is the main purpose of the fighter, of the person that is contracted under UFC? It’s to fight.”
Nicco Montano didn’t like the way Valentina commented her title stripe. You can read her Instagram post here. On the other side, Valentina Shevchenko claims this reply only made her laugh. She says Montano can do whatever she wants since she needn’t fight her.
“It made me laugh so much, because now she has all the time in the world to speak her stories, to invent facts. Everything she wants to do, she can do it now because now she doesn’t have to face me,” Shevchenko said. “She doesn’t have to fight me. She can feel more free to express her words and speak, which I think is her favorite thing.”
The Bullet says she is moving on. But if Nicco Montano shows in the future that she deserves to fight her, Valentina will be ready to consider it.
“I’m moving on,” Valentina Shevchenko said. “If at some point she will show that she deserves this fight, that she really knows where she’s going and is ready for this fight — I think she is not ready for this fight, but if in the future she will show it, I will think about it.”
Shevchenko is ready to face any opponent.
“I’m ready for everyone,” Valentina Shevchenko said.
Valentina Shevchenko (15-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) didn’t hide her interest into the fight versus Joanna Jedrzejczyk (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC). After all, the two have a kickboxing history. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is a real professional, according to Shevchenko.
“We already have our history with Joanna in Muay Thai and we can start our history in MMA. Why not?” said Shevchenko, who beat Jedrzejczyk in all three of their kickboxing bouts. “Why don’t we do this fight? All the fans want to see this fight.
“The division has to move, the division has to fight and the belt has to be in play. The fight for the belt has to happen before the end of the year. I will gladly fight Joanna because she’s a real professional fighter.”
What are your thoughts on this? Would you like to see Valentina Shevchenko Vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 or UFC 232?
