UFC: Valentina Shevchenko on fighting Julianna Pena instead of Amanda Nunes – ‘I don’t care, I can face both at same time’
- Shevchenko thinks bantamweight champion ‘has all the chances’ to beat Nunes again – which would quash long-mooted trilogy with Brazilian
- Flyweight queen feels Pena dropping down to challenge her would be ‘an exciting fight for everyone’
UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko has no problems fighting Julianna Pena if the bantamweight queen pulls out another win against Amanda Nunes this summer.
“The Venezuelan Vixen” shocked former double champ Nunes – considered by many as the greatest of all time in women’s MMA – to take her 135-pound belt last December in a seismic shock.
The two are now opposing coaches on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, which began airing last week, and are set to face off again in July or August.
Shevchenko (22-3) had long been mooted for a trilogy with Nunes, having reeled off eight straight wins – with six title defences – since suffering a second loss to “The Lioness” in September 2019. That defeat came eight months after the Kyrgyzstani made Pena tap out.
“I think why not, because years ago we fought with Julianna, and I submitted her with an arm bar in the second round” said Shevchenko, when asked about potentially facing Pena instead of Nunes, during Tuesday’s UFC 275 virtual press conference.
“I think it will be an exciting fight for everyone, where she would go down and try to challenge in flyweight or whatever.”