UFC 261: Valentina Shevchenko is the Queen of the Flyweight division

There's only one word to describe Valentina Shevchenko's fight with Jessica Andrade: Domination.

Andrade is famous for slamming Bantamweights over her head. However, Valentina Shevchenko overpowered her opponent with ease in a contest where she landed 7 takedowns in a 7-minute fight.

Jessica Andrade's fight against Valentina Shevchenko was far from an even contest. It was a mauling at the hands of arguably one of the most complete MMA fighters in the world. To the naked eye, it seemed as if Andrade was operating at a level below Shevchenko.

This is where the problem lies for the Flyweight division. It is not that the division is not competitive. The complication is the fact that Valentina Shevchenko is just so much better than the rest of her competition that it almost feels unfair to put anyone in front of her.

There are no holes in this woman’s game. Unreal. 👏🏼👏🏼#ufc261

— Eric Nicksick (@Eric_XCMMA) April 25, 2021

There was a time in Mike Tyson's career when the fans knew they were not tuning in for a fight. They were tuning in for an execution. Shevchenko, at Flyweight, is starting to give that impression now.

Other than losing a round against Jennifer Maia in her last bout, Shevchenko has been peerless in recent times. As long as Shevchenko is at fighting at the Flyweight division it will be impossible to remove the belt from her shoulders.

In all likelihood, Shevchenko will face Lauren Murphy in her next fight, but yet again she will be a heavy favorite going into the contest.

The flyweight division is a competitive division with contenders everywhere barring Shevchenko. But as long as Shevchenko is around, there will likely be only one queen in the flyweight division; the rest can merely keep trying their luck.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Amanda Nunes is the fight to make

Bonded by their desire to be the best 🏆🏆 #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/FD84x7ezn5

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 25, 2021

There are similarities between how Nunes and Shevchenko have ruled their respective divisions. Both fighters appear to be at a level above everyone else. If there is a fighter that could beat Valentina Shevchenko then it's going to be Amanda Nunes and vice versa.

Will the UFC match these two in a contest that could be billed as a fight to determine the best female MMA fighter on the circuit?

Although Dana White hasn't shown too much interest in that, it's hard to argue that any other female fighter should be put in front of these two.