Shevchenko Retains Her UFC Title

Shevchenko Retains Her UFC Title

Liz Carmouche was a big outsider in her 2nd and almost certainly her last opportunity to wear UFC gold, and those odds accurately reflected what we witnessed.

Her opponent and the reigning UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko was vastly superior everywhere the fight could and did go.

Carmouche (13-7) inflicted the first defeat on Shevchenko (18-3) in 2010 but in this rematch in Montevideo, Uruguay, the winner was never remotely in doubt, repeat never looked on.

The problem when you are facing a fighter as good as Shevchenko, is that whatever you try to do you have one eye on what will come back at you. Much of Carmouche’s offence was out of range, tentative and without any real conviction.

There never seemed any urgency or desperation from Carmouche, almost an acceptance of her fate.

Shevchenko retained her UFC flyweight title by an unanimous 50-45 decision, and she once again proved her dominance over the rest of the division.

Eventually Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes will run out of credible opponents and will almost certainly be forced to face each other one more time. The trilogy fight might be the only way we will see either fighter in a competitive fight.