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This weekend at UFC 285, flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko will hope to defend her title for the eighth time when she faces off against Alexa Grasso.
UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is undoubtedly one of the best fighters on the planet right now, but is she the UFC’s greatest woman of all time (GWOAT)?
There are arguments for and against ‘Bullet’ being considered the greatest, and it’s worth looking at both sides of the coin.
With that in mind, here are three reasons why Valentina Shevchenko is the UFC’s GWOAT, and two reasons why she isn’t.
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#3. Valentina Shevchenko has dominated almost every opponent she’s faced
The UFC’s greatest male fighters – the likes of Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva – became recognized as great because they all dominated their opponents inside the octagon. Sure, all of them had the odd close call during their title reigns, but for the most part, they made even other good fighters look like amateurs.
During her reign as UFC flyweight champion, it’s probably safe to say that Valentina Shevchenko has done the exact same thing.
Since claiming the vacant title by outpointing former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk back in 2018, she’s been able to defeat all challengers. If she defeats Alexa Grasso this weekend, it’ll take her total number of defenses to eight.
Of those challengers, only Taila Santos was really able to test her. Outside of that, even top fighters like Jessica Andrade and Katlyn Chookagian were dispatched with brutal violence.
Essentially, no other female fighter in UFC history has shown the kind of dominance that ‘Bullet’ has shown during her time at 125 pounds, and that makes her the promotion’s GWOAT.
#2. Valentina Shevchenko could’ve been a two-division champion with different judges
Many of the fighters considered all-time greats – names like Randy Couture, Georges St-Pierre, and B.J. Penn – were able to capture UFC titles in two different weight classes during their time with the promotion.
Sure, becoming a two-division champion isn’t an absolute must when it comes to being considered great, but it definitely helps.
In the case of Valentina Shevchenko, while ‘Bullet’ cannot call herself a two-division champion, not many fighters have come as close to achieving this feat as she has.
Shevchenko has held the flyweight title since 2018. A year before that, she challenged Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title in the headliner of UFC 215. The fight wasn’t memorable by any means, as it wasn’t exactly high on action. When the fifth round ended, though, many observers believed that Shevchenko was about to get the nod and claim the title.
Unfortunately for her, she came out on the wrong end of a split decision, and due to the fight not producing much action, a rematch was never likely to happen.
Just five months later, ‘Bullet’ moved down to 125 pounds and hasn’t fought back up at bantamweight since. However, the fact that she could’ve won the UFC bantamweight title with different judges stands as a testament to her spot as the promotion’s GWOAT.
#1. Valentina Shevchenko holds the record for the most title defenses of any female UFC champion
The great Matt Hughes once famously claimed that a fighter could only consider themselves a true champion not once they’d won a title, but once they’d defended it.
To back this up, some 12 years after his final fight, Hughes is still regarded as a legend, primarily because he defended the UFC welterweight title successfully on a total of seven occasions.
Essentially, title defenses count for a hell of a lot when it comes to measuring a fighter’s greatness, and they’re also key to Valentina Shevchenko’s claim to being the UFC’s GWOAT.
‘Bullet’ has defended her flyweight crown successfully on seven consecutive occasions since claiming it in 2018. If she can beat Alexa Grasso this weekend, then her number of defenses will increase to eight.
Put simply, no other female fighter in UFC history would be able to match that number, not even the great Amanda Nunes. For comparison’s sake, Nunes lost her bantamweight title to Julianna Pena in her sixth defense.
Essentially, then, no other female fighter has been able to dominate her division quite like Shevchenko, who has surpassed Nunes, Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Looking at it like that, it’s impossible not to consider her the GWOAT.
Despite these reasons for Valentina Shevchenko being the UFC’s GWOAT, there is an argument against it, something we will explore now.
#2. Valentina Shevchenko hasn’t faced truly great opponents at flyweight
One reason for not considering Valentina Shevchenko the UFC’s GWOAT is the fact that her competition at flyweight arguably hasn’t been the strongest.
The division was only inaugurated by the UFC in 2017. As the promotion’s newest weight class, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that it’s been thin on talent over the past five years.
Sure, there are better prospects emerging at 125 pounds now – the likes of Erin Blanchfield, Casey O’Neill and Manon Fiorot have all looked great – but what of the fighters defeated by Shevchenko during her title reign?
It’s arguable that most of them could be looked down upon in some way.
Jessica Eye and Liz Carmouche both had middling runs at bantamweight before their title fights with ‘Bullet’. Katlyn Chookagian, Jennifer Maia and Lauren Murphy practically got their shots by default due to the dearth of contenders at the time, and the same could be said for Taila Santos.
The only real standout names on Shevchenko’s ledger are Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade, and both women had their best successes at 115 pounds. In fact, it’s arguable that Shevchenko’s best win came over Holly Holm at 135 pounds in 2016.
Shevchenko is undoubtedly a great fighter, and any fighter in the UFC can only defeat the opponents put in front of them.
But like former men’s flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, Shevchenko shouldn’t be held in a higher regard than some of her peers because unlike Amanda Nunes, or Jedrzejczyk at strawweight, she hasn’t beaten many truly great foes.
#1. Amanda Nunes still has better accomplishments than Valentina Shevchenko
Perhaps the greatest argument against Valentina Shevchenko being the UFC’s GWOAT is the fact that the status already belongs to another fighter – reigning featherweight and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
‘The Lioness’ can’t match Shevchenko’s total of seven successful consecutive title defenses, and admittedly, she lost to Julianna Pena in an upset in late 2021. But those are literally the only marks against her.
Outside of those two points, Nunes has done everything a fighter might need to be considered the greatest.
Unlike Shevchenko, the Brazilian is a genuine two-division champion. In fact, she’s one of only four fighters in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles in separate weight divisions.
She has a total of seven UFC title defenses to her name, albeit not consecutively, as she defended her bantamweight title on five occasions before losing it to Pena, and has also defended her featherweight crown twice.
To add to that, when she avenged her loss against Pena and reclaimed the bantamweight crown in 2022, she also made history in another way.
Remarkably, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ was the seventh current or former UFC champion to fall to ‘The Lioness’ in the octagon – and that list includes Shevchenko herself.
Essentially, even if ‘Bullet’ continues to rule over the 125-pound division for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to imagine her overcoming the accomplishments of Nunes, whose feats in the octagon stand alone.
Even if Shevchenko beats Alexa Grasso this weekend, then, Nunes should still be considered the UFC’s GWOAT.
