Valentina Shevchenko Welcomes Ronda Rousey’s Return But Dismisses Her As an Opponent
Valentina Shevchenko would love to see Ronda Rousey back inside the Octagon, just not as an opponent.
‘Bullet’ further established herself as one of the greatest female mixed martial artists of all time at UFC 322, handily defeating former two-time strawweight queen Zhang Weili in the co-main event.
In the days since winning her 11th title fight, Shevchenko appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to discuss all things related to her victory over Zhang and, more importantly, what comes next.
During the conversation, Shevchenko was questioned about the rumored return of the UFC’s first-ever female champion.
“She’s still young and if she feels she can do that, it’s definitely will be good for the sport,” Shevchenko said of Rousey.
As for whether or not Shevchenko would entertain ‘Rowdy’ as a potential opponent…
“I don’t think so at this moment,” she added, dismissing the possibility of a fight with Rousey. “Like years ago, it would make more sense, but at this moment, this point of my life, her life, I don’t think it makes sense.”
There’s no denying that Rousey is the one who paved the way for female fighters to compete inside the Octagon after Dana White stressed for years that women would never fight in the UFC.
But after suffering a pair of brutal knockouts before bailing on the fight game altogether a decade ago, Shevchenko thinks the former Olympian would be best served by taking some low-level fights before potentially jumping back onto MMA’s biggest stage.
“I would say exactly, before you come back on the same level like she competed—Ronda competed at the highest top level—before she comes back at this level, if it would be me, I would do like several fights at a lower level just to get back in shape, in the same competition mood, to feel this pressure in fighting,” Shevchenko continued.
“I think Ronda, she’s a great fighter and definitely she’s the first one who fought in UFC like people saw her fighting in UFC and definitely she deserves to be the greatest fighter. But no one would fight there like there was not like women—after only seven years it was the first UFC fight here in UFC female fight. But in 2003 I already won the title of world champion in MMA in South Korea in Seoul.
“In 2005 I was the world champion already. So I’ve been here for a long time and I have all rights to speak about how it evolved and how it was back then and now. So yeah, for me it’s very hard question who is the greatest and I never will call myself because I’m not.”
While Rousey has not confirmed whether or not a return to MMA is in the cards, rumors started to swirl after ‘Rowdy’ posted images and videos on Instagram of her returning to the gym and appearing to get back into fight shape.
