02 March 2023 , 07:39
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Valentina Shevchenko has insisted that a trilogy fight against Amanda Nunes is inevitable before she ends her UFC career.
Shevchenko, 34, makes the eighth defence of her women's flyweight title against Alexa Grasso this Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 285. 'Bullet' won the belt over four years ago and has since become one of the most dominant champions in the UFC by defending her title against top contenders such as Talia Santos and Jessica Andrade.
The only defeats of Shevchenko's UFC career have come to Nunes, who currently holds the bantamweight and featherweight titles. Shevchenko suffered her first defeat to Nunes in 2016 and was beaten in their rematch the following year by a controversial split decision. The nature of the defeat has led to Shevchenko being adamant that she will move back up in weight to fight Nunes for the third time later on in her career.
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"I do think I am going to move back up, I do think it's going to happen one day," Shevchenko told Mirror Fighting and other reporters. "It's the only one reason I should go up [in weight]. This time has to go my way, no matter what. I will have to do everything that I have to do to win the fight, because it's what I expected of myself. I don't think that I lost the second fight that we had."
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"I watched it several times and I still think it should have gone a different way. If it would have been champion against champion, no doubt the judges would have been a victory to my side, but that time it was a different situation and different set of circumstances. That's why what did happen, happened. When the trilogy happens, it's going to be completely different."
Valentina Shevchenko has lost twice to Amanda Nunes in the UFC (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Shevchenko will become the first fighter in modern UFC history to fill out the eight rubies on her world title if she wins on Saturday night. Grasso is unbeaten in her past four fights and the Mexican admitted that Shevchenko is the toughest challenger she's faced in her professional career.
"I've been watching her [Shevchenko's] career for a long time," Grasso said. "I think this is the biggest challenge of my life, I can't say if I am the best striker if I haven't faced someone like her. I'm truly happy and inspired for this fight. I know she is tough and dangerous in all areas, this made me train a lot and be very disciplined."