Lauren Murphy has reflected on her unsuccessful bid for the UFC Women’s Flyweight Title against Valentina Shevchenko.
Murphy and Shevchenko collided on Sept. 25. The title fight served as the co-main event of UFC 266. Shevchenko was simply too skilled and Murphy had no answer for her striking or grappling. “Bullet” ended up nabbing the fourth-round TKO finish.
Valentina Shevchenko Flys Like MJ
Speaking to Mike Heck of MMAFighting.com, Murphy said that sharing the Octagon with Valentina Shevchenko probably felt as surreal as it would to go one-on-one with Michael Jordan in a basketball game.
“She was incredible. It was pretty crazy to be in there with somebody at that level because I’ve never truly competed with anybody that level before. I don’t remember the fourth round, really, so I guess that’s pretty good.
“It’s a bummer to lose, and that’s the first time I had ever been finished. I think it was a good stoppage, I was pretty out of it by the time the ref pulled her off of me. It’s definitely not the outcome we wanted but, to be honest with you, it was pretty cool to be in there with a martial artist of her caliber. That’s a pretty cool experience. That must be what it’s like to go play one-on-one with Michael Jordan, or that’s how guys felt when they were competing with Khabib [Nurmagomedov], because it really was, ‘Holy sh*t, this girl is really on another level.’”
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Shevchenko has looked unstoppable since moving down to the 125-pound division. She has gone 8-0 in the UFC as a flyweight. Fans continue to clamor for a super fight between Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes. The two have fought twice before with Nunes earning the win in both fights. Nunes holds the UFC Women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight Titles.
