Valentina Shevchenko’s only one loss to someone not named Amanda Nunes took place nearly a decade ago against the woman whom she will be making her next flyweight title defense against: Liz Carmouche.
Valentina Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche will do battle as the headliner of UFC Uruguay on Saturday, August 10. The first encounter was under the C3 Fights umbrella, and it was never even supposed to happen:
“I think the biggest thing is that it was such a shady organization,” Carmouche told ESPN of C3 Fights. “Because, really, I think most people don’t know, like you said, that that fight…I was actually supposed to fight her sister. Because we had a very similar record, both new to MMA, both very inexperienced, and then you have Valentina, who’s been doing it at least 10 years, at least in combat sports in general in Muay Thai and boxing previous to that.
“And we got there, we looked at the poster and were like, ‘That doesn’t look right. Wait a second. First of all, she’s standing as a southpaw. And the hair is blonde, not brunette. And we were really confused. And they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah.” I’m like, ‘No, my contract says it’s the other sister.’ And I’m like, ‘I’ll still take the fight.’
“We took the fight anyway, and we were able to pull off the win, last 10 seconds, last 15 seconds of the fight, cutting her.”
Carmouche’s victory was indeed due to doctor’s stoppage. Unfortunately for curious fans, there is no available footage of the bout. Thus, as is often the case with history, we are all at the mercy of the victor’s recollections:
“I just remember with an upkick I was able to cut her over the eye and she just wouldn’t stop bleeding,” Carmouche said. “And unfortunately, it just kept bleeding into her eye….and I remember just being covered head to toe in her blood and the trying to stop the fight, her not being able to answer the bell because of the cut over her eye.”
Do you believe Liz Carmouche could defeat Valentina Shevchenko for the second time?
