Valentina Shevchenko Only Moving Up For Amanda Nunes Trilogy

Valentina Shevchenko is happy where she is as far as divisions go.

Shevchenko is the reigning women’s flyweight champion and will look to add another title defense to her record when she takes on Jessica Andrade at UFC 261 this upcoming weekend.

Many regard Andrade to be her toughest test at 125 pounds, but even considering that, Shevchenko remains a big favorite. And if she continues to keep winning, there will be calls for her to move up and return to the bantamweight division.

However, “Bullet’ has no plans on doing that. That is, unless it’s for a trilogy with two-weight champion Amanda Nunes.

“There is only one reason why I would move up, it’s a fight against Amanda,” Shevchenko said in a recent interview (via MiddleEasy). “This is the only (reason) I see me going up.

“Right now I’m very focused on flyweight, because going up a weight class it means you have to gain more weight. It’s hard to go up and down again, up and down. So I prefer to do everything (at flyweight) and then think about going somewhere higher.”

Shevchenko, of course, has been receptive to the idea of a trilogy with Nunes for many years now.

Their first meeting was in 2015 and saw Nunes come out on top via unanimous decision. Their second meeting took place in 2017 for the 135-pound title and saw Nunes win a highly-contested split decision.

If both competitors keep winning, it’ll only be a matter of time until we see a third clash.