According to UFC women’s flyweight prospect Erin Blanchfield, nobody is “unbeatable” in the cage, including dominant champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Not many UFC prospects are as highly touted and promising as Blanchard. At just 22 years of age, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has fought nine times as a professional, had her hand raised on eight occasions, and established her name in the world’s premier MMA promotion.
After a debut win against Sarah Alpar earlier this year, which came after back-to-back triumphs in the renowned Invicta FC organization, Blanchard was matched with fellow rising star Miranda Maverick. The pair clashed at UFC 269 last weekend, and on the grand pay-per-view stage, “Cold Blooded” demonstrated why she’s a threat to the rest of the 125-pound weight class.
Blanchard rag-dolled Maverick for the majority of the contest, taking her down seven times and landing over double the amount of strikes as her 24-year-old flyweight peer. With a dominant unanimous decision victory, Blanchard showed why she’s a name to watch at flyweight.
Blanchfield Thinks She Will Be The Champ’s Kryptonite
Like many in the combat sports community, Blanchard, whose only career loss came by way of a controversial decision against Tracy Cortez in 2019, believes she has what it takes to make her way to the title. But not only that, she thinks she can be the one to end the dominant reign of Valentina Shevchenko.
In a recent interview with The Schmo, Blanchard reminded fans that no athlete is “unbeatable,” perhaps taking inspiration from Julianna Peña’s upset victory over Amanda Nunes on December 11. The 22-year-old is confident that, even if no one else in the division is capable of doing it, she can beat “Bullet.”
“I feel like everyone thinks Valentina is unbeatable, but that’s not true about anybody. And I don’t know if there’s anybody, like, right now, that’s gonna beat her until I get there, but I know I definitely will.” (h/t Sportskeeda)
With Nunes losing one of her belts, Shevchenko perhaps now leads the way as the most dominant female titleholder in the UFC. The Kyrgyzstani has built an eight-fight win streak since a split decision loss to Nunes in 2017. Across that period, “Bullet” has ascended the flyweight mountain; defended the title six times; and beaten the likes of Jessica Eye, Jennifer Maia, Jéssica Andrade, and Joanna Jędrzejczyk.
Unlike those names, Blanchard hopes to reach the top and add a fourth blemish to the incredible record of Shevchenko.
Can you see Erin Blanchfield being the one to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko in the future?
