UFC women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko issued a challenge of her own in response to potential challenger Manon Fiorot.
UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] issued a retirement challenge in response to [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag]’s recent call for a title fight. She also added a snarky dig.
Friday, Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) expressed her frustration with waiting for a title shot in a message to the champ Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC).
“@BulletValentina stop making people wait!” Fiorot wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Let’s do it soon enough so I can send you to retirement and move on.”
The champ didn’t take long to reply, and she stuck with the retirement theme by challenging Fiorot to put her career on the line when they meet in the octagon.
“You lose – you retire Deal?!!” Shevchenko wrote on X.
The retirement stipulation for the fight was a strong enough challenge, but Shevchenko added a snarky remark to punctuate her reply, calling Fiorot an “ill-mannered first-grader.”
Shevchenko recognizes Fiorot is likely her next challenger after defeating Alexa Grasso at UFC 306 to reclaim the women’s flyweight title. Fiorot, who is undefeated through seven UFC bouts, weighed in as the backup for that fight.
The UFC has not officially announced plans for Shevchenko or Fiorot’s next bout.
Manon Fiorot is getting impatient with her wait for a UFC title shot.
[autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] is getting impatient with her wait for a UFC title shot.
Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) has steadily knocked off contenders while the title fight trilogy between [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] and Alexa Grasso played out. Now that Shevchenko has emerged with the women’s flyweight belt, Fiorot is eager to finally book her first championship opportunity.
The Frenchwoman took to social media on Friday and made a pointed callout at Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC), declaring that she will take the belt and send “The Bullet” into retirement from the sport (via X):
— Manon The Beast FIOROT 🇨🇵 (@ManonFiorot_MMA) November 8, 2024
Stop making people wait! Let’s do it soon enough so I can send you to retirement and move on.
Fiorot, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s flyweight rankings, has yet to be beaten under the UFC banner. The 34-year-old has already defeated Erin Blanchfield, Rose Namajunas, Mayra Bueno Silva and more during her run, and is looking to climb the ultimate prize of UFC gold.
In a recent interview on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” No. 1-ranked Shevchenko said she is open to a fight with Fiorot, who weighed in as the backup fighter when Shevchenko reclaimed the 125-pound belt from Grasso at UFC 306 in September.
Having felt Fiorot’s strength and failing to take her down in their fight, Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) expects the French fighter’s size to pose problems for Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC).
“I think Manon could do very well,” Blanchfield told MMA Junkie. “I could even see her beating Valentina. I could see Valentina winning, but I think Manon can use her size. I think she’s a very big flyweight, and she knows how to use her range and like her length. I think Valentina is more like dynamic and has more skills.
“So, I’m curious how Valentina is going to deal with her size because I know in the past, let’s say with like Taila (Santos), I remember her complaining about how big Taila is, and I feel like Manon’s significantly bigger. So yeah, I think it’s a good matchup, and I’m curious to see how it goes.”
“I feel like I was able to utilize my striking better. That’s something obviously I had a lot of focus on after my last fight,” Blanchfield said of her win over Namajunas. “I feel like I was able to show a little bit of improvement there. Obviously there’s room for more, but it’s only been a couple of months.
“So, I feel like I was able to definitely show that to myself and win those championship rounds, too. I feel like that was a big thing. Even though losing those first two rounds, I was able to come back and sweep the scorecards on the rest of the rounds.”
Chael Sonnen thinks Valentina Shevchenko made a mistake by not acknowledging Manon Fiorot after UFC 306.
[autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] made a mistake by not acknowledging [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] after UFC 306.
Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) regained her flyweight title with a dominant decision win over Alexa Grasso (16-4-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at Sphere in Las Vegas. Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) weighed in as a backup for the fight, but her services weren’t needed. Although Shevchenko dismissed a fourth fight with Grasso next, Sonnen would have liked to see her address Fiorot.
“Can I tell you what one of my least favorite parts (of UFC 306) was? It’s very simple,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” alongside Daniel Cormier. “There was an alternate that flew in and weighed in in case anything happened with the Grasso-Shevchenko fight, Fiorot. At a minimum, it would have been nice if Valentina mentioned her. I feel like it’s clear that Fiorot is next. She was almost that night. And after the fight, Valentina went in a different direction. She wanted to thank Hunter Campbell and Dana White as opposed to call out an opponent.
“You were a main event here at this very event one year ago against the same opponent for the same title then they have demoted you to a co-main event. At some point you’ve got to wake up. The crowd wasn’t thrilled with this match. If they were to do it again next year, it’s going to come lower and lower. I felt for Fiorot. To come over there, get licensed, go through all the medicals, go through the training camp, the weight cut, and there’s no opportunity, which means there’s not a very big check to split up with your team. At a minimum, you could have had a callout. On a human level, to a degree, it bothered me.”
Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 306, which featured two titles changes at Sphere.
It’s not often two major championships change hands on the same night, but that’s what went down this past Saturday at UFC 306.
The historic event at Sphere in Las Vegas saw [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] claim the UFC bantamweight title from Sean O’Malley by unanimous decision in the main event, while [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] recaptured the women’s flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Alexa Grasso in their historic trilogy fight.
Dvalishvili and Shevchenko were both entered fight week as No. 2 in their respective divisions against the No. 1. That changed with the result, and now the new UFC titleholders have their rightful No. 1 spots.
There were also other results that impacted the rankings, such as Diego Lopes’ dominant win over Brian Ortega in the featherweight division.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
New champ Valentina Shevchenko didn’t like the way ESPN portrayed the rematch with Alexa Grasso in the buildup to UFC 306.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] accuses ESPN of showing bias toward [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] in the buildup to UFC 306.
Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) regclaimed the flyweight title from Grasso (16-4-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) by out-grappling her in the UFC 306 co-main event Saturday at Sphere. Shevchenko was able to close out their trilogy with a unanimous decision after she was submitted in their first fight, followed by a split draw in their rematch – a fight she’s adamant she won.
Shevchenko was happy to beat Grasso in decisive fashion, but she believes she wasn’t getting enough credit for her performance in the rematch, specifically from ESPN.
“I feel ESPN was showing so much (favoritism toward Alexa Grasso),” Shevchenko told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 306 post-fight news conference. “Even in the second fight with Alexa, so every time showing the moment when she’s winning or she’s doing good combinations.
“And my combinations, they just ignored. But I won the fight, but they just ignored. All the people had this feeling that she won the fight, and it was a draw. I felt it was unfair a little bit, and now there is no way for them to show these clips. It’s going to do right and show the right clips now.”
Shevchenko is ready to move on from Grasso, shutting down a potential fourth fight. Manon Fiorot weighed in as the backup for their fight.
“I think it would be good to see somebody different,” Shevchenko said. “Right now, I don’t think it would be the appropriate fight.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.
With Dana White and the UFC’s “love letter to the Mexican people” in the books, “Spinning Back Clique” discusses if the show delivered.
UFC 306 went down this Saturday, and it was the most expensive event the promotion has ever put on given the production demands of the Sphere in Las Vegas. It was an ambitious move by the UFC, and [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] hyped it up to be the greatest sporting event ever.
UFC 306 saw two champions lose their titles as [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexa Grasso [/autotag]were dominated by [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] in their respective bouts.
Now that the historic event is in the books, did UFC 306 deliver on what White promised? Can UFC 306 be considered a success? And what comes next for the big winners and losers?
MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and host Gorgeous George discuss the UFC’s debut at Sphere, along with the main results from the card.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
On this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses the results from UFC 306, the latest with Conor McGregor and much more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.
This week’s panel of Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:
UFC 306 is in the books, and both headlining champions lost their titles. [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] lost dominant unanimous decisions to [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag], respectively. Beyond that, several fighters had breakthrough performances, including [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], who badly battered former two-time UFC title challenger [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag]. We’ll unpack the UFC’s debut at Sphere and all the technical magic that came with it.
The main event for the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden in November was finally announced: a heavyweight title fight between [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] was made official by the promotion. Accompanying Jones-Miocic at UFC 309, a lightweight bout pitting [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] against [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] was also announced. We break down both matchups and discuss what’s at stake.
Finally, with Chandler fighting Oliveira, this leaves the question: What is going to happen with [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]? McGregor and Chandler were linked to fight for more than a year, and yet that fight never came to fruition, despite a failed booking and the two participating on last year’s season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” McGregor reacted to the news and said that he’s been ready, but feels he’s been kept “out of the loop.” What is going on? We discuss.
The third time was the charm for Valentina Shevchenko.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] is “new” again.
For the first time in over a year-and-a-half, Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) holds title gold – something that was a familiar feeling for the years prior to her UFC 285 loss to Alexa Grasso in March 2023.
“It was my third fight with Alexa and I don’t know, I just feel so different, so powerful, so strong – even better than I was a few years ago,” Shevchenko told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “This strength, I just felt it through my veins, through everything. I think it’s something good for a fighter. If you’re not evolving, it’s kind of like, ‘OK, it’s time for retirement.’ But if you feel strong and powerful and continue to do these hard things that you are doing but you love it, this is kind of what’s important. Rest – it doesn’t matter.”
As she sat at the news conference table, Shevchenko maintained her typical level of professionalism and pose – but with a more relaxed, beaming vibe than usual. A sense of comfortability in knowing the universe was aligned as she wanted it was projected outward.
“I’m so happy about everything – definitely,” Shevchenko said. “I’m so happy to return what belongs to me. It was one year without the belt. It was feeling so weird. Really right now, it’s difficult to present all the emotions going through me, because with all the adrenaline and thing after the fight that happened. I think by tomorrow I would exactly answer the question. But right now, in two words, I’m just happy that everything is good.”
Shevchenko entered the event 0-1-1 against Grasso (16-4-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC), the promotion’s women’s flyweight title holder, but won by unanimous decision. The third time was the charm.
“This belt, what it means for me, is all the story (of) losing the belt because of my own errors that I did in the first fight,” Shevchenko said. “Then, fighting the second fight and winning the fight and getting a draw. Then, this third fight, this five months of training camp, it was so intense for me, not only physically but mentally. It is every time thinking about how to become better. … For this particular fight I was feeling so much energy inside me, monster energy, and I just unleashed it and went with everything in this fight.”
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Now that she sits back atop the flyweight throne, Shevchenko declined to drop a name she wants to fight next. She said she’ll leave it up to the UFC to line them up. She just plans to knock them down.
“To be the best, you have to win (against) the best,” Shevchenko said. “This is every time my mindset. This defines me, who I am. That’s why I never choose my opponent and say, ‘Oh, this one. I don’t go with this one, I probably go with another one.’ No, it’s not me. It’s very hard for me to say right now. … It was super intense preparation for this fight, not only in terms physical, or training or something like that, but mental part was super hard as well. Every time you go to bed, you’re thinking what you have to do differently with the training, what technique you have to do to add to your game. Now, finally the first night after five or six months, I can sleep and enjoy my sleep.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.
Sean O’Malley and Alexa Grasso got the biggest checks from the Promotional Guidelines Compliance program fro UFC 306, which paid $239,500.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 306 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $239,500.
The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC 306 took place at Sphere. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
The full UFC 306 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
