Valentina Shevchenko shocked by fighters picking against her at Noche UFC: ‘There’s something wrong in the world’

Newly-crowned undisputed flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko has claimed she was shocked to learn how many of her fighting peers had picked against her ahead of her Noche UFC title trilogy fight with Alexa Grasso earlier this month.

Shevchenko, a two-time undisputed flyweight champion, returned to the throne earlier this month at the Las Vegas Sphere, turning in a dominant unanimous decision win over Mexican favorite, Grasso in the pair’s trilogy bout in ‘Sin City’.

Twice featuring against Guadalajara native, Grasso last year, Shevchenko’s dominant flyweight reign was ended in March with a stunning upset neck crank submission loss, before fighting to a split decision draw in last year’s edition of Noche UFC.

Valentina Shevchenko shocked fighter picked her to lose at Noche UFC

And whilst closing as a betting underdog in her trilogy clash against Grasso earlier this month at Noche UFC, Shevchenko has claimed she was hugely surprised to learn many of her fellow fighters had picked against her to win the title once more.

“Surprisingly for me, many UFC fighters, many pro fighters when they had their picks before our thrid fight they said, ‘(Alexa) Grasso… oh Grasso.’ It was kind of one-sided,” Valentina Shevchenko told MMA Fighting during an interview. “It was a little bit surprising for me that I would take it from people who don’t know much about martial arts, and they just want to see stupid in the striking, like — who has the stronger chin, a stronger head and it doesn’t involve too much technique, too much fighter IQ, too much of the character of the fighter.”

“I would take it from those people but when pro fighters say that, it was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s something wrong with this world.'” Valentina Shevchenko continued. “That’s another reason I had to show domination. I had to show I’m superior in every field.”