Exclusive: Valentina Shevchenko claims Lauren Murphy vs Cynthia Calvillo contender clash will be “dirty”

published

Valentina Shevchenko is expected to face the winner of Cynthia Calvillo vs Lauren Murphy

Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko is one of the greatest female MMA stars of all-time and was on the Schmozone podcast.

The UFC Flyweight champion has defeated all comers since winning the title and her only losses in the promotion have come against Amanda Nunes.

Valentina Shevchenko is the UFC Women's Flyweight champion
Valentina Shevchenko celebrates her win over Julianna Pena in the women’s Bantamweight division (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Shevchenko was last in action at UFC 247 where she beat Katlyn Chookagian via TKO. She has finished all her rivals since winning the title and there is going to be a new challenger for her crown.

Lauren Murphy vs Cynthia Calvillo are set to face off at UFC 254 and the winner from this clash should face Shevchenko.

Both fighters have changed divisions for this clash and Shevchenko was asked who would win. The Bullet was taken aback as she was concentrating on her fight but claimed this would be a good battle:

“I was totally focussed on my fight and I didn’t think this was going to happen.

“I knew they were going to fight but what I can say, it is going to be a good fight.”

Murphy gets the win

The champion also opened up on who has the size advantage in this clash. The Bullet went on to add that this fight would be dirty with a lot of clinching too:

“Lauren Murphy is tough and definitely she is someone bigger, she fought in 135 then she went down.

“I think the physical advantage is going to be more on Murphy’s side but it isn’t about the physical advantage but also the technical and who was faster, who did the reaction better or on defending takedowns or something like that.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, it’s going to be a good fight and a lot of wrestling. I would say it is going to be not that technical, kind of like a dirty fight.”

When pressed on who would win, Shevchenko claimed it would be Murphy simply because she had the physical presence to get the win.

Lauren Murphy was impressed by Holly Holm recently

Calvillo cannot be taken lightly though. The 33-year-old is coming off an impressive win over Jessica Eye and is undefeated in her last four fights.

Murphy, for her part, has won her last three bouts and defeated Roxanne Modafferi in her previous outing.

This was an exclusive interview from The Schmozone Podcast. For more exclusive interviews and content please follow the link

More UFC news

Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates