Erin Blanchfield planning to exploit Valentina Shevchenko weaknesses
Erin Blanchfield is confident that she's capable of exploiting and beating Valentina Shevchenko following her surprisingly dominant display against former UFC champion Jessica Andrade last time out.
'Cold Blooded' is just five fights into her UFC career and already looks like a real contender in the division and a potential near-future threat to the women's flyweight title. With wins over some of the division's most recognizable names, the well-rounded martial artist is guiding her career in the right direction.
During a recent interview, Erin Blanchfield discussed a possible fight against long-reigning 125lb queen Valentina Shevchenko and insisted that she plans to expose the champion's weaknesses.
"She's a great Muay Thai fighter. She's well-rounded in her own right, but I know I'm well-rounded as well and I feel like the parts of her game that she's weaker, I'm stronger. I know I'd be able to expose that... I don't think she's necessarily on the decline... I think you just didn't have anybody that was that good of a grappler to show that her grappling's not that great."
In her short time with the UFC, Blanchfield fought a number of tough opponents who all brought different styles into the cage, which she managed to deal with fantastically.
Fellow promising talent Miranda Maverick, veteran J.J. Aldrich, and the aforementioned Jessica Andrade are all names on the 23-year-old's resume. Alongside those wins, the New Jersey native held an extremely one-sided victory over fan-favorite Molly McCann, as she stunted the scousers hype with a grappling masterclass at UFC 281.
Check out what Erin Blanchfield had to say about a potential future clash against Valentina Shevchenko in the video below.
Erin Blanchfield on Valentina Shevchenko's weakness: Does 'The Bullet' have a glaring hole in her game?
Valentina Shevchenko is considered by many to be the greatest female fighter on the planet, rivaled by very few, but does Erin Blanchfield have fair criticism of the women's flyweight champion?
While 'The Bullet' did find trouble in her last outing against Taila Santos, she has shown her grappling prowess countless times throughout her career in the sport and has even collected seven wins by submission.
When facing grappling specialist Julianna Pena, many believed Shevchenko would struggle if the fight took place on the ground, but that wasn't the case as the Kyrgyz managed to lock in an armbar submission finish.