Valentina Shevchenko has her doubts about fighting for a title at UFC 228.
If you recall, just earlier this month, UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano went on record by stating that she would be ready to return to the octagon at the upcoming UFC 228 pay-per-view event.
Thus, most would expect that she would make her next title defense against No. 1 contender Valentina Shevchenko.
However, Shevchenko stated in a recent interview with MMAJunkie that there are talks in place to meet Montano at the event but is not convinced of the fight happening.
“From her part, it’s more like a verbal agreement,” Shevchenko told reporters at The Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas. “But I don’t know. Should I believe in it, or is it just like some play of words? Because before, she was saying that she was ready for July 7. And she said that it will be nice to fight in the International Fight Week. And then, when the UFC came back to her and said, ‘Let’s do it July 28,’ it’s like more time. She said, ‘No, I will do my surgery, whatever, I’m not ready.’
“I hope this time her word will be exactly 100 percent about September 8, fighting in UFC 228. So I hope it will work until the end, before we get our contracts from UFC, both of us will sign it and just finally do what we have to do. We have to fight. Not speak. Not posting tweets about it. Let’s do it, finally. No, we have to fight. We have to prepare and do our job.”
“(I want to) just do exactly what I have to do in my own weight division, in my weight class,” Shevchenko said. “But, also, I want to have my rematch with Amanda because I don’t agree with the result that we had last time. The more I see this fight, and I go with the same opinion. In the future, I definitely will have another opportunity to fight with her. But I don’t see it happening right now. Because my plan is to do all I can at 125.”
The UFC 228 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, September 8, 2018. As of this writing, the promotion has yet to reveal a location and venue for this event but Dallas and Las Vegas are believed to be leading the running.
The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
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