Yes, the beat-down Valentina Shevchenko put on the Octagon-debuting Priscila Cachoeira left her worse for wear. But it turns out the Brazilian suffered even worse injuries than we saw.
Tiago Okamura, the manager for Cachoeira, told MMA Fighting that the fighter tore her knee during the early stages of the first round at UFC Fight Night 125 in Brazil this past Saturday night. Shevchenko went on to claim a submission victory in the second round.
“She tore her meniscus and ACL in the beginning of the first round, the first time they engaged, and it went all downhill from that moment,” Okamura said. “We couldn’t do anything.”
The fight turned into a one-sided affair, as Shevchenko delivered over 200 strikes to “Pedrita,” who landed just a single one of her own. The flyweight suffered her first career loss, but earned a level of respect from UFC president Dana White for her ability to withstand damage as referee Mario Yamasaki failed to stop the fight.
“He could have stopped it in a few occasions,” Okamura said, “But ‘Pedrita’ is really tough and doesn’t give up. She was trying to get out the entire time. Being a referee is a very complicated job.”
Giliard Parana, the head coach who worked the corner for Cachoeira this past weekend, also explained why he didn’t call an early stop to the contest. He did state that the seriousness of the knee injury was not known to him at the time.
“We didn’t know how serious the injury was,” Parana said. “If we knew, I think we would have stopped it, but we only knew when we went to the hospital. She was in pain, she got hurt in the first exchange, and told me in between rounds that she hurt her knee but I told her to shut up. I was trying to make her stop thinking about that, but I had no idea how serious it was. If I knew it, I would have stopped it. We thought she would be able to fight all three rounds.”
