5 reasons Valentina Shevchenko is better than Ronda Rousey was

#4 Valentina Shevchenko did better against women who defeated Rousey

Not only was Valentina Shevchenko undersized at bantamweight, heightening her successes in the weight class, but she fared much better against the women to whom Rousey lost.

While Rousey was KO'd by both Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes in dominant fashion, Valentina Shevchenko defeated Holly with a uninamous decision win and took Nunes to close decision losses, with many scoring their 2nd fight for Shevchenko.

Furthermore, Shevchenko's record at bantamweight is 12-3 to Rousey's 8-2 as the latter's first four bouts were contested at higher weight classes.

Thus, despite never winning a title at bantamweight, Valentina Shevchenko performed admirably in a heavier division and did better against the only two opponents she shares with Rousey.

Additionally, both Holm and Nunes are among the biggest bantamweights, having both fought at featherweight while Shevchenko is currently a flyweight, rendering her performances against both even more impressive by comparison.

---

#3 Shevchenko deals with losses better

Valentina Shevchenko did not sign with the UFC off the back of an unprecedented win streak. Rousey, on the other hand, was regarded as an unstoppable force of nature for most of her career.

After suffering losses early in her career, Shevchenko learned to swallow her pride and take each loss as a lesson instead. Thus, she learned to improve her skill-set after every loss instead of questioning her own self-worth as Rousey did.

When Shevchenko lost to Nunes, she built herself back up, defeating former bantamweight champion Holly Holm and current bantamweight champion Julianna Pena en route to a rematch with Nunes.

In their 2nd outing, Shevchenko did significantly better, forcing a split-decision out of Nunes. While Valentina Shevchenko ultimately lost the bout on the judges' scorecard, many in the MMA world felt she had won the fight.

In comparison, Rousey refused to face any cameras after losing to Holm, demanded that no interviewer ask her about the loss in the leadup to her fight with Nunes, and ultimately retired from the sport after losing to Nunes as well.

Valentina Shevchenko, by contrast, has become the reigning flyweight champion since suffering her last loss.