UFC 266: Valentina Shevchenko finishes Lauren Murphy with fourth-round flurry to retain flyweight title

Valentina Shevchenko again re-emphasised the vast gulf in class between herself and the rest of the flyweight division, stamping her authority all over Saturday night’s UFC 266 co-main event with a fourth-round TKO of Lauren Murphy.

The Peruvian-Kyrgyzstani “Bullet” (22-3) controlled proceedings from the off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, dominating the first three rounds against her American challenger (15-5), who had put together a fine five-fight win streak to earn her title shot.

But Murphy’s championship opportunity came to a frustrating end. Shevchenko hurt her with a check right hook before chasing her down and unloading with a huge flurry, pouring it on with big shots and finishing it with a barrage of elbows on the ground.

“I just started to elbow, elbow, elbow – I knew the finish was coming soon,” the 33-year-old told Daniel Cormier in her post-fight interview in the Octagon.

“It feels amazing,” Shevchenko added. “It’s the best feeling. Everyone who doesn’t believe in marital arts, you’re wrong because it’s the best feeling.”

After a sixth successful title defence, the Amanda Nunes trilogy question will no doubt come up again – so much so that the Brazilian featherweight and bantamweight champion’s name didn’t even need to be mentioned by Cormier.

“I’m ready for anyone,” Shevchenko said. “I always say, no matter the weight class, no matter anything, I’m ready, I’m here, I’m the champion.

“For everyone, for the fans, thank you so very much. I’m so happy you’re here,” she added. “I’m so happy we are all together again.”