The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 125
So another UFC event is in the books – UFC Fight Night 125 took place in Belem, Brazil last night and it was quite a good show actually. The show lost its semi-main event on the day of the weigh-in when Pedro Munhoz missed weight and his fight with John Dodson was scrapped, but for the most part, the remaining fights delivered, with some exciting finishes up-and-down the card.
The UFC Fight Night series always has its fair share of good and bad points, but this was one of the better efforts in recent memory, as the majority of the fighters came to put on a show. Here are the best and worst of UFC Fight Night 125.
#1 Best – Valentina Shevchenko has arrived at 125lbs
When the UFC introduced the Women’s Flyweight (125lbs) weight class in 2017 through a season of The Ultimate Fighter, you always got the feeling that the eventual champion would come from elsewhere rather than the reality show. Nicco Montano currently holds the title after beating Roxanne Modaferri, but after last night it’s hard to see anyone but Valentina Shevchenko taking it into 2019.
Shevchenko had been a top contender up at 135lbs despite being undersized, and last night’s fight with newcomer Priscila Cachoeira was her first official one in her new weight class. She didn’t disappoint, destroying Cachoeira both standing and on the ground before mercifully finishing her with a second-round rear naked choke. It was as one-sided a beating as we’ve seen in the UFC recently.
‘The Bullet’ is a known quantity amongst UFC fans so it seems pretty clear that she should challenge for the 125lbs title in her next fight and to be honest, I can’t see any way that Montano beats her, no offense. Shevchenko arriving at Flyweight could produce a dominant champion as Joanna Jedrzejczyk was for years at 115lbs, and that would give the new weight class a massive shot in the arm. This was clearly the best part of last night’s show.