Valentina Shevchenko doesn’t appear to be letting that shock defeat to Alexa Grasso get her down. The former UFC flyweight champion is constantly travelling and training and this week she is in Hawaii.
Shevchenko shared some photos of her on the famous Waikiki beach in Honolulu.
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Dual nationality
Shevchenko is not your average UFC fighter. She speaks fluent Russian, Spanish and English as well as a smattering of Thai and probably some other languages we don’t even know about.
The 35 year old was born in Kyrgyzstan, lived in Pero long enough to gain citizenship and spends much of the year in Las Vegas. Shevchenko conducted her most recent training camp in Tokyo and is constantly sharing photos of herself in exotic locations.
The defeat to Grasso snapped a nine fight winning streak and cost Shevchenko her UFC flyweight title. It was her first defeat since 2017 but afterwards she admitted there were ‘no excuses’.
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Immediate rematch
Shevchenko has not just dominated the flyweight division for the past six years, she was also dominating the fight until getting caught with a face crank in the fourth round.
Afterwards she asked for a rematch and given her status as the longest running champion on the UFC roster prior to that loss it would be a surprise if that wish wasn’t granted. But in the meantime Shevchenko appears to be determined to continue with a lifestyle that involves constantly travelling and training.
It will be interesting to see where the 35 year old chooses to train ahead of her next fight. The choice of Tokyo was a surprising one although she did get to work with the likes of Kanna Asakura in Japan.
Shevchenko remains the #1 ranked flyweight on the UFC roster and is entitled to believe she should be handed an immediate rematch with Grasso. She is #3 on the pound for pound list of women’s fighters and is still at the pinnacle of the sport, even if she finds herself without a title for the first time since 2018.
