Valentina Shevchenko TKO’d Jéssica Andrade In The Second Round At UFC 261

The most dominant flyweight in UFC history, Valentina Shevchenko (21-3) entered Saturday night on a seven-fight win streak, with five title defenses in the division. Saturday night at UFC 261, Shevchenko was on a mission to show off that dominance in a TKO victory over Jéssica Andrade (21-9) to retain her flyweight belt from Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

https://twitter.com/Pat_Egan/status/1386159137239846912

The champ opened the first round in dominant fashion, walking down the challenger and peppering her with combinations. While Andrade tried to find her range, Shevchenko shot in for a whopping five takedowns, utterly dominating Andrade while patiently transitioning on the ground.

In the second, Shevchenko did much of the same, taking Andrade down twice before transitioning into the crucifix position and elbowing her opponent into the finish.

For Shevchenko, while she wouldn’t pick who’s next in the flyweight division after the fight, it’s hard to imagine anyone who matches up with her well-rounded abilities.

With no clear opponents left in the division, maybe it’s time for a trilogy bought with Amanda Nunes, who has handed Shevchenko her last two losses, both by decision. Four years since her last bout with Nunes, both fighters are at the top of their games and could make for quite the showdown. With Nunes holding both the bantamweight and featherweight belts, it would almost certainly require Shevchenko to move back up the bantamweight division for such a fight to take place.