- Valentina Shevchenko wants Taila Santos to heal completely before giving her a rematch
- Shevchenko is surprised to see Charles Oliveira as the underdog for his match with Islam Makhachev
Reigning UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is coming off a hard-earned decision victory over Santos at UFC 275. It marked the first time the dominant champion appeared to be struggling. With some members of the community suggesting Santos should’ve won the contest, there was speculation of a rematch.
Now, “Bullet” has spoken about her next fight and it likely won’t be Santos.
Valentina Shevchenko Reveals Why Taila Santos Won’t Get Rematch Next
In an exclusive interview with James Lynch, reporting for Middle Easy, Shevchenko revealed why Santos will likely not get an immediate rematch.
“People sometimes can be so cruel. They have no worries that a girl just had a broken orbital, and had surgery. She will take time to recover, and they want to throw her back to it to injure her again and have another surgery. You never know if it’ll be the same career or whatever. They just want to have fun and see a good fight.
“No, I think let her heal up because health is number one. Make her feel confident that she can receive the hit without being afraid. I think she has to feel good first, 100 percent back.
“Not like being afraid of a strike, it’s completely not what a fighter should feel. Then, yes, it’s going to be rematch or whatever UFC will want but not now as I mentioned health is number one.”
“Bullet” is surprised to see Charles Oliveira as the underdog
When asked about the upcoming bout between Oliveira and Makhachev, Shevchenko expressed her shock at seeing “do Bronx” as the betting underdog.
“Charles Oliveira, he fought more top-ranked opponents than Islam. Actually, yeah he fought all the top fighters in the weight division. He beat them all and actually showed, ‘yes, I belong here, and this is why I hold the belt.’
“Islam, he never had the opportunity to fight someone who’s more ranked than him, I mean top-ranked, higher ranked, in the top five. This makes it harder to understand how betting is going, who is creating these odds but yeah, whatever let’s enjoy the fight.”
Oliveira is set to take on Makhachev at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
