Since reclaiming her flyweight title at UFC 306, Valentina Shevchenko hadn’t been seen in the cage—but the champ made a grand return to defend her title against Manon Fiorot at UFC 315, and she fully delivered.
The bout served as the co-main event of the night, and both fighters put on an impressive performance. Fiorot came into the cage full of energy and wasted no time engaging Valentina, but the champ was ready. She stunned the challenger with a right hand. Fiorot countered with a high kick and a body shot that connected. The two continued to trade blows, with Valentina landing more clean shots. The champ threw a straight right that broke Fiorot’s nose, but the challenger fought through it. She went in for a takedown, but “Bullet” held her in half guard until the round came to a close.
Fiorot pushed for the finish in round two as she pressed Valentina against the cage, but the champ kept her guard up and landed body shots in the clinch. A spinning back kick from Valentina broke the hold, and she went for a trip takedown but couldn’t do much damage as Fiorot recovered quickly. She tried for another takedown but didn’t succeed. The two locked up in a clinch again, trading body shots. Fiorot went in for another shot to the body but couldn’t land anything significant before the round ended.
In the following rounds of the UFC 315 co-main event, the two traded kicks as Fiorot searched for a takedown, but Valentina remained on her feet. Fiorot landed a head kick, and the pair clinched again, trading more body shots. They continued to exchange vicious punches, but Valentina managed to stay on top for the remainder of the five-round bout and retain her belt.
Shevchenko’s consistent offense never allowed Fiorot to find any kind of rhythm, her easy stride and unbothered nature secured her championship as she remains the greatest flyweight in UFC history.
“I was expecting a very hard fight,” Shevchenko said after the win. “Manon, she’s a hard opponent, a good striker. Everything we did to get ready for the fight, I was able to do. [I’ll] keep going. It’s like numbers are nothing. It’s about how you feel mentally and physically.”
