Why Valentina Shevchenko Fired Back at Khabib Nurmagomedov Over ‘Women Are Weak’ Remark
Valentina Shevchenko pushed back at Khabib Nurmagomedov because she saw his latest remarks about women in MMA as part of a pattern that reduces female fighters and women in general to stereotypes, and she wanted to counter that with real-world examples of women in high‑risk roles and in martial arts history.
What Khabib Nurmagomedov Said About Women in MMA
In a recent interview with Sun Hills Development, Khabib said he is “not in favor of women competing in MMA,” calling the sport “brutal for men” and saying that, for women, he “doesn’t even consider it.” He argued that the “most precious thing on our body is our face” and joked that women “have a mirror with them, they look 1000 times a day,” framing female fighters as people who should avoid damage rather than embrace combat sports. Khabib added that although some women choose MMA and that it is their decision, if he had a say, he “wouldn’t choose this sport for women” and finds it “wild when a woman gets hit in the face.”
The History Behind Their Friction
This was not Khabib’s first controversial comment about women in the fight business. In 2021, at a press conference in Moscow, he called ring girls “the most useless people in martial arts” and questioned why they were needed when rounds can be shown on the screen. Valentina responded at the time by publicly siding with the ring girls at UFC 266, celebrating with them after her TKO win over Lauren Murphy and later saying “no one has the right” to call them useless, stressing that “beautiful women” are a normal part of combat sports promotion. She also labeled his stance “boring” and “so bad,” making clear she felt he was dismissing legitimate work done by women in the industry.
Why Valentina Shevchenko Fired Back This Time
Khabib’s new “women are weak” framing and suggestion that women should stay away from MMA triggered a sharper reaction from Shevchenko, who has spent her career proving the opposite at the elite level. As a long‑time UFC champion and one of the most decorated female fighters, she saw his comments as undermining the legitimacy and toughness of women who fight, train, coach, and work around the sport.
On X, Shevchenko answered the “women are weak” idea directly by pointing to her sister, an airline captain, as a living example of a woman trusted with responsibility, risk, and split‑second decisions. She then referenced the “Night Witches,” the Soviet 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, an all‑female World War II unit that flew night bombing missions with engines cut, in near‑silent approaches, and often landed without lights. That regiment flew more than 23,000 sorties, dropped thousands of tons of bombs, and became one of the most decorated units in the Soviet Air Force, earning a fearsome reputation among German troops.
Shevchenko’s post framed strength as a product of upbringing and training, not gender, arguing that a man can be raised “helpless” just as easily as a woman can be raised capable. She stressed that in martial arts there is “no distinction” between man and woman, only the craft itself, and that people train to become stronger, more skilful, and wise enough to avoid being hit, rather than to fit into a social stereotype.
In that light, Khabib’s public stance clashes directly with how Shevchenko sees both her career and the culture of combat sports, which is why she chose to respond in such pointed fashion.
