“It has to be equal” - UFC’s Valentina Shevchenko demands Kyrgyzstan Independence Day fight, calls President Sadyr Japarov a 'huge fan' of the sport
Valentina Shevchenko recently opened up about her women's flyweight title fight against Alexa Grasso this past weekend at Noche UFC, which ended in a split draw and offered her opinion on the location for a potential trilogy fight.
During her appearance on The MMA Hour, 'Bullet' shared her thoughts on the judges' decision and noted that she believed that she won three rounds. After host Ariel Helwani asked whether she would be open to fighting Grasso in Mexico, the former women's flyweight champion wasn't too thrilled about the idea and suggested Kyrgyzstan Independence Day as a fair compromise.
She said:
"I think it would be fair and very right to have next event in Kyrgyzstan, Independence Day of Kyrgyzstan. And it's gonna be very smart because it has to be equal, right? We cannot do Mexican Independence Day twice...And I think all the people in Kyrgyzstan, all government in Kyrgyzstan, they will do everything possible to make it happen."
Valentina Shevchenko also brought up that there were a number of government officials from Kyrgyzstan that flew to Las Vegas to support her. She mentioned that Kyrgyzstan president Sadyr Japarov is a fan of the sport and is very supportive of athletes from Kyrgyzstan.
She revealed the importance for her to have that support, saying:
"Our president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, he is very like in the sport, he's very sport person, and it's very important for me as a athlete to have this support from him as well. So it's like, yeah, I think it's going to be fair Independence Day of Kyrgyzstan in Kyrgyzstan...and I think it's very right time to do that."
It remains to be seen whether the UFC will book a Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso trilogy bout as 'Bullet' has sustained an injury that could keep her sidelined for the time being.
Valentina Shevchenko sounds off on judge Mike Bell's scorecard at Noche UFC
Valentina Shevchenko sounded off on judge Mike Bell's scorecard at Noche UFC, which resulted in her women's flyweight title fight against Alexa Grasso being a split draw.
Bell had a controversial scorecard as he scored the fifth round 10-8 in favor of Grasso despite it being back-and-forth. During the aforementioned appearance, 'Bullet' mentioned that there was no reason for the bout to be scored 10-8 and noted that he will have to live with that mistake, saying:
"He [Mike Bell] did something inexplicable thing and I think that the whole world would love to hear the explanation. But from the other side, it's not me...he is going to live with that mistake forever."