5 opponents for Valentina Shevchenko
Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko has had an eventful reign as UFC women’s flyweight champion. She has been a dominant force since moving down to 125lbs and has successfully defended her title 6-times.
‘Bullet’ has distanced herself from the rest of the division in terms of making her fights look easy at times. She reached another milestone in her career as she moved to the top of the UFC’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings. After Amanda Nunes’ title loss to Julianna Pena at UFC 269, the women’s flyweight champion was clearly worthy of top spot.
Looking ahead to this year, it becomes difficult to find a contender. It’s not that the division is bad, it’s just that ‘Bullet’ has already beaten the top-4 ranked fighters in the division. The UFC could try to think outside the box for future title-challengers, with flyweights and bantamweights being a possibility. This list will look at 5 possible opponents for Valentina Shevchenko.
#5. Shevchenko vs. Casey O’Neill
A fighter that could find her way into the title picture is undefeated ‘King’ Casey O’Neill. She climbed the ranks at 125lbs and has finished her opponents in devastating fashion.
‘King’ Casey is regarded as one of the UFC’s top prospects in the women’s flyweight division. She is coming off the most impressive win of her career, which saw her defeat Antonina Shevchenko by second round TKO.
With the win, ‘King’ Casey earned a Performance of the Night bonus and solidified her place in the women’s flyweight rankings. She is scheduled to fight former title-challenger Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 271 in what will be Modafferi's final MMA fight.
An impressive win for ‘King’ Casey could get the attention of the champion. She already has a win over ‘Bullet’s' sister, so it wouldn’t be hard to sell a potential fight between the two.