Valentina Shevchenko won the vacant UFC women’s flyweight title in December 2018. On June 11, ‘Bullet’ attempts to defend that title for the seventh time when she faces Taila Santos in the co-main event of UFC 275. If Shevchenko wins—and she is heavily favored to do so—the odds are good that she will once again field questions about a second attempt at winning the promotion’s bantamweight title.
Before moving to flyweight, Shevchenko went 3-2 at bantamweight under the UFC banner. Her two defeats came at the hands of now former champion Amanda Nunes. In 2017, Nunes successfully defended her title against the Kyrgyzstan-born fighter, winning a split decision at UFC 215.