Valentina Shevchenko is MMA’s answer to Michael Jordan. At least according to Lauren Murphy who compared her UFC 266 opponent to the all time basketball great,

“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,” she told MMA Fighting.

Shevchenko stopped the American in the fourth round at UFC 266 last month. It was the sixth time that she has successfully defended her flyweight title.

Does this put her on a par with Jordan who won the NBA six times with the Chicago Bulls? Murphy certainly seems to think so and there can’t be many higher compliments an American can pay to a professional athlete.