5 reasons why Valentina Shevchenko should move to bantamweight if she wins at UFC 275

Should Valentina Shevchenko move up to 135lbs if she defends her flyweight crown at UFC 275?

UFC 275 will go down in a couple of weeks’ time, and in the event’s co-headliner, UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will defend her title against Taila Santos.

Valentina Shevchenko is going to be heavily favored to defeat Taila Santos and retain her UFC flyweight title, but if she wins, should she move up to 135 pounds?

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos in the works for UFC 275 in June (@DamonMartin, @guicruzzz) mmafighting.com/2022/3/1/22957… https://t.co/SrTKyABRTQ

A move up to bantamweight could make plenty of sense for ‘Bullet’, and it could make a ton of sense for the UFC, too.

With that in mind, here are five reasons why Shevchenko should move up to bantamweight if she wins at UFC 275.

#5. Valentina Shevchenko could walk directly into a shot at the UFC bantamweight title

Shevchenko defeated Julianna Pena in 2017 - and could walk into a bantamweight title shot if she were to move up in weight

Whenever a UFC champion from a lighter weight class announces their plans to move up a division, it’s usually because they’ve got a second title in their plans. Usually, that involves them leapfrogging a top contender from the division they’re moving to – something that can often cause controversy.

In the case of Valentina Shevchenko, though, if she were to move to 135 pounds, she could walk directly into a shot at the UFC bantamweight title and nobody would be likely to bat an eyelid.

That’s because once the issue between current champ Julianna Pena and former titleholder Amanda Nunes is settled at UFC 277, there’s no clear-cut top contender in the division.

Holly Holm just lost to Ketlen Vieira, but no one is going to want to see ‘Fenomeno’ fight for the title after her performance in that fight, while the likes of Irene Aldana and Raquel Pennington simply haven’t done enough to earn a shot either.

Essentially, there’s a big gap at the top of the division for someone to step into. Shevchenko, who only ever lost to Nunes at 135 pounds before her drop to flyweight, and actually beat Pena in early 2017, could easily fill that gap. The fact that she’d get an instant title shot alone should be enough for ‘Bullet’ to want to move up after UFC 275.

UFC on FOX 23 results: Valentina Shevchenko taps Julianna Pena for first submission win in nearly 11 years wp.me/p3WzJ0-XTf