"I was preparing for a war. I even took all my anti-inflammatory pills with me, because I didn't know how I was going to walk out of the octagon,"
"During the fight, from the begging to the end, I could not let myself be very sure. 'Oh it's going great, and I can relax now.' No, because I'm fighting with the highest-level opponent, Weili, and she's highest-level opponent, very dangerous in every moment. And knowing she has this knockout power, one punch, when I saw I had several body kicks, it's kind of like 'yeah one more and that's gonna be it.'"
Valentina Shevchenko defended the UFC women's flyweight title by defeating former strawweight champion Weili Zhang at Madison Square Garden via unanimous decision, with judges scoring all five rounds 50-45. The victory tied Shevchenko for the women's record of 11 UFC title fight wins, matching Amanda Nunes. Shevchenko prepared expecting a brutal contest, even taking anti-inflammatory medication and remaining cautious because of Zhang's known knockout power. Shevchenko landed several body kicks, controlled the bout across five rounds, and avoided overcommitting to reduce the risk of being finished by a single fight-ending strike.
Read at Cageside Press
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