Valentina Shevchenko set to defend her UFC women's flyweight title against former champion at UFC 261
Valentina Shevchenko will be defending her UFC women's flyweight championship once again. Bullet is set to return at the UFC 261 pay-per-view for an exciting showdown against Jessica Andrade.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the fight to ESPN. Shortly afterward, Brett Okamoto took to Twitter and confirmed the booking of the next women's flyweight title fight.
With the PPV set for April 24th, UFC 261 will mark Valentina Shevchenko's fifth consecutive title defense and could turn out to be her toughest test to date as champion.
Andrade moved up to the UFC's women's flyweight division and marked her debut with a huge win over Katlyn Chookagian in October. The Brazilian finished the former flyweight title challenger with strikes in round one of their fight. The win marked Andrade's first victory since losing to former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and current strawweight champion, Zhang Weili.
As aforementioned, UFC 261 is scheduled for late April and will also feature a middleweight fight between Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall. The rematch between the two men was set for UFC 258 but got called-off, and eventually rebooked for the UFC 261 pay-per-view.
The rest of the UFC 261 card is yet to be confirmed but the pay-per-view will feature Jimmy Crute in action against Anthony Smith. Danaa Batgerel and Kevin Natividad will also be crossing paths inside the octagon.
A venue or location for the UFC 261 pay-per-view is yet to be officially confirmed.
Valentina Shevchenko's dominant run as the UFC women's flyweight champion
Valentina Shevchenko won the inaugural UFC women's flyweight championship at UFC 231 in 2018. In order to win the title, Bullet defeated former UFC strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk by a unanimous decision.
Since becoming champion, Valentina Shevchenko has successfully defended her belt on numerous occasions, against the likes of Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, and Katlyn Chookagian.
The fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade is yet to be officially announced by the UFC on their social media platforms.