Outside Source
Valentina Shevchenko is rooting for former foe Julianna Pena in her next title fight.
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Pena will put her women’s bantamweight title on the line against Kayla Harrison in the co-main event at UFC 316 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. For flyweight champ Shevchenko, the fight is as good as the main event of the night.
While Harrison is a massive favorite, Shevchenko warns that a title fight is different territory. Shevchenko cited the example of her own successful title defense against Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 last month. “Bullet” believes the Frenchwoman, riding a 12-fight winning streak, was in uncharted territory in a championship fight.
“If you see my previous fight against Manon, she was 12 wins without [a loss], and she was thinking that championship fight was going to be the same. But championship fight is not the same,” Shevchenko told ESPN. “You will face different challenges, and I feel the same way. This is my main event at UFC 316; it’s Julianna Peña against Kayla Harrison. And I feel the same way that it’s going to be completely different fight for Kayla Harrison, and she will feel completely different. Because Julianna, she possess this ability to win, to turn the fight from the position where she’s uncomfortable to the comfortable and win the fight…I wish both fighters a lot of success to win, but I will be rooting for Julianna.”
Shevchenko submitted Pena via a second-round armbar when they fought in 2017.
Pena won the title by submitting Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 in 2022 in one of the greatest upsets in combat sports history. However, “The Venezuelan Vixen” suffered a lopsided beatdown in an immediate rematch against “The Lioness,” who later vacated the title. Raquel Pennington won the vacant title against Mayra Bueno Silva, but suffered a controversial split-decision loss against Pena in her first title defense.
Meanwhile, Harrison has been one of the most dominant female fighters, tearing through the PFL roster to win the lightweight championship on two occasions. The two-time Olympic gold medalist will fight for a UFC title in just her third Octagon outing.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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