Valentina Shevchenko went into Taila Santos fight with injury, eyeing Miesha Tate fight next
Valentina Shevchenko has revealed that she carried a foot injury into her women's flyweight title defense against Taila Santos at the recently concluded UFC 275 pay-per-view event. Santos and Shevchenko clashed in the co-headliner of the event, which took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
During a conversation with ESPN MMA's Megan Olivi following the fight, 'Bullet' revealed that she went into the fight with an injury. Having landed leg kicks with the same foot during the fight, the Kyrgyzsthani-Peruvian fighter felt she might have caused further damage to it.
Shevchenko hopes to get an X-ray done soon to figure out the extent of the injury.
"I step into the fight injured with my foot but looks like after the fight, I kicked so much and it's a little bit more injured but besides the foot [for which] we're gonna have X-ray after, besides this injury I feel amazing you know."
Watch the interview below:
Shevchenko survived major scares in a technical war against Taila Santos to retain the women's flyweight title at UFC 275. The Brazilian outgrappled 'Bullet' throughout the fight, not allowing her to successfully impose her striking game.
The champion, however, still managed to outstrike Santos and survived three submission attempts as well as scored three takedowns to get her hand raised via split decision at the end of the fifth round.
Valentina Shevchenko continues her reign after her toughest challenge to date at #UFC275 👑 https://t.co/SzIkHihEtp
Valentina Shevchenko eyeing potential clash with Miesha Tate by the end of the year
Valentina Shevchenko isn't looking to move up to the bantamweight division to challenge for a second title next. Instead, she will be keeping a keen eye on the upcoming women's flyweight clash between Lauren Murphy and veteran fighter Miesha Tate.
If Tate manages to get past Murphy, Shevchenko would like to headline a pay-per-view event with 'Cupcake' by the end of the year. Having said that, Shevchenko also claimed that it will be a tough matchup for Tate because she'll be going up against a strong opponent in Murphy.
"[The] upcoming fight [between] Miesha Tate and Lauren Murphy at 125 is going to be an amazing, interesting fight and if Miesha could get a victory but she has very strong opponent Lauren Murphy so this is going to be...It's a kind of like main event pay-per-view by the end of the year, it's going to be good."
BREAKING: The UFC have a plan to potentially make Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate at #UFC276 on July 2nd.
🚨BREAKING: The UFC have a plan to potentially make Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate at #UFC276 on July 2nd.
#UFC276 #UFC #MMA https://t.co/ODEkOxaGKU