The Frenchman Manon Fiorot will try to win, Sunday at the UFC 315 in Montreal (from 4 hours on RMC Sport 1), the -57kg belt of the organization, to become the first tricolor fighter in history holding the undisputed title. But facing her presents a legend of the discipline: the Kyrgyz-Peruvian Valentina Shevchenko.
She is the last person who still stands between Manon Fiorot and the coveted belt. The one that the Frenchwoman wants to dethrone, and send to retirement. Or rather at the Hall of Fame. Because Valentina Shevchenko, champion of the -57kg of the UFC and opponent of the Niçoise Sunday in Montreal in Co -Main Event of the UFC 315 (from 4 hours on RMC Sport 1), appears as the end boss of the MMA female. Presentation.
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One of the three largest athletes in the history of the UFC
The order will change according to each other, but in the opinion of most observers, three fighters have permanently marked the history of the female categories of the UFC: Ronda Rousey, former champion of -61kg and first planetary star of the female MMA; Amanda Nunes, who put an end to the career of this same Rousey in 48 seconds one evening in December 2016; And Valentina Shevchenko, who will forever remain a -57kg queen.
Arriving at the UFC in 2015, almost ten years ago, “Bullet” (37, 24 victories, 4 losses and 1 career draws) took the fly weight belt for the first time in 2018, and has already fought twelve times for the Crown, a record that she shares with Nuns. His thirteenth fight for the title, this weekend against Manon Fiorot, will pass it alone in another sphere, whatever the result. “For me, it’s clearly one of the legends in the category,” said Fiorot at RMC Sport. “It is one of the most dominant fighters in the history of this division. When I returned to the UFC (in 2021), it was already the champion. I put it in the three names of the legends of the UFC.”
A career whose end is becoming clearer
Fiorot, who has always seen Shevchenko more as a “possible adversary” than a “model”, however believes that his prime passed. “In view of her last fights, I think she is still a little below. We see that she is much less dominant than in her early days,” analyzes the French. After nine consecutive victories, Shevchenko fell to everyone’s surprise against Alexa Grasso in March 2023 (defeat by submission), and failed to resume his title during the revenge of September 2023 (draw).
It was not until the last episode of the trilogy, in September 2024 in the heart of the Sphere of Las Vegas, for her to recover her property, to the decision, but without shining. “I found it much less dominant, at the cardio level and everything I felt fatigue, I saw the lesser impact of the blows,” comments Manon Fiorot, official replacement during this fight and therefore at the Lodges. After waiting for her turn for months and months, the Niçoise must have done an intense pressing on social networks to obtain her title shot. A fight that Shevchenko has long seemed to want to dodge …
A warrior like her mother, and like her sister
If most of her career is behind her, it is also because Valentina Shevchenko still displays 25 years of footwear on the clock. Born in 1988 in Kyrgyzstan (then USSR) of parents of Ukrainian origin, she bathed very early in martial arts and combat sports. Not thanks to his father, a soldier who played in the Kyrgyzstan football selection, but thanks to his mother.
-“My mother is president of the Kyrgyzstan Federation of Thai boxing, and she is also a black belt, third in Taekwondo,” she explained in 2021 to the Russian Sport Express media. A mother who converted Valentina and her older sister Antonina (also an old fighter of the UFC) to her passion, and her lifestyle. “It is thanks to her that we practice martial arts. It is she who brought us to our coach, Pavel Fedotov. It is thanks to her that Antonina and I have obtained such results. Martial arts are a tradition in our family. It is not only a hobby, nor a means of earning money, nor a sport. For me, martial arts are my philosophy, my religion, my religion, Passed by Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Kickboxing, Shevchenko thus played his first MMA pro fight in 2003, year of 15 years.
A citizen of the world
Russian -speaking mother tongue, and holding a passport in Kyrgyzstan, Valentina Shevchenko also has the particularity of having nationality … Peruvian, her adopted country, whose colors she defended in international competitions by Muay Thai. Behind this improbable wedding, a simple trip in 2007, with his historic coach Pavel Fedotov and his sister Antonina.
Fallen in love with the country of Latin America, the trio leaves Russia – where Shevchenko lived – and settles there durably, to build a martial arts club and give lessons there. “We lived in Peru for eight years in total,” she said in 2021. “We lived in Lima, the capital on the ocean coast, and we also lived in the Amazon. The Amazon marked me. Life is difficult, because it is a jungle. To go to the local capital, Iquitos, there was no road.
The sports results of Valentina Shevchenko made her a local celebrity. His television performances too. In 2013, the fighter stood out by participating in a dance telecrochet, Fight. A competition that she won with her pair of the time.
For several years, “Bullet” has been installed, still with her coach and sister, in Las Vegas, where she trains daily at the UFC Performance Institute, the complex that MMA organization provides its fighters.
A James Bond in the feminine
Like a Ciryl Gane in France, Valentina Shevchenko also made a little infidelity in the MMA in 2020, when she appeared in the film Bruisedwith Halle Berry. A feature film in which she played an Argentine MMA champion, rival of the heroine played by the American actress. By his own admission, his cinematographic model is called James Bond.
“I’m not only a fighter,” she said a few years ago. “I try to develop on all levels. My coach, Pavel Fedotov, always taught me that. A fighter is not only a fighter, but also a person. You must be a self-manner who can do a lot. For me, James Bond is the embodiment of versatility. He can do a lot. He can fight, drive a car, a yacht, a fighter. MMA which can use any martial arts technique.
If her sister Antonina has converted as a plane pilot, Valentina gives rather in boats … and firearms. Passionate about shooting, the fighter participated in several competitions. Spectators of his fight against Manon Fiorot, this weekend, will also be able to admire this surprising tattooed pistol on a hip. Its American side, probably.
