According to former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, Valentina Shevchenko left a key topic out of her Octagon interview inside the Sphere.
Shevchenko was among the biggest winners to emerge from this past weekend’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, where she regained the women’s flyweight crown to start her second reign in the division.
To do so, “Bullet” got the better of Alexa Grasso at the third time of trying, upsetting the pro-Mexico crowd at the promotion’s second annual celebration of the nation’s independence day with a dominant grappling performance across five rounds.
Many were quick to express their disappointment with the lack of action in the Noche UFC co-headliner, but one former fighter-turned-analyst was left frustrated for a different reason…
Sonnen Criticizes Shevchenko For Omitting Fiorot From Post-Fight Interview
During the latest episode of his Good Guy / Bad Guy show alongside Daniel Cormier on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Sonnen outlined one aspect of the latest numbered card that he wasn’t the biggest fan of.
“The American Gangster” pointed to Shevchenko’s post-fight interview, questioning why she chose to focus on an abundance of thank yous instead of addressing the expected first challenger to her second divisional rule.
“Can I tell you what one of my least favorite parts (of UFC 306) was? It’s very simple,” Sonnen said. “There was an alternate that flew in and weighed in in case anything happened in the Grasso/Shevchenko fight, (Manon) Fiorot. … At a minimum, it would have been nice if Valentina mentioned her.
“I feel like it’s clear that Fiorot is next. She was almost that night. And after the fight, Valentina went in a different direction. She wanted to thank Hunter Campbell and Dana White as opposed to call out an opponent,” Sonnen continued. “I felt for Fiorot. To come over there, get licensed, go through all the medicals, go through the training camp, the weight cut, and there’s no opportunity, which means there’s not a very big check to split up with your team. At a minimum, you could have had a callout. … On a human level, to a degree, it bothered me.”
Fiorot successfully made weight last Friday as the backup fighter for the co-main event of the Sphere-held event. Her services were ultimately not required on fight night, and her title shot is instead expected to come off the back of a full preparation down the line.
