Valentina Shevchenko will be out for nearly with an injury.
On Saturday, the UFC announced that Shevchenko is vacating her flyweight title, with Natalia Silva and Wang Cong fighting for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 332 in Salt Lake City. The announcement came as a shock given that Shevchenko is one of the most dominant champions in UFC history, but the promotion said that Shevchenko will be out of action for nearly a year. And now we know why.
Per Telegram Ushatayka, Shevchenko’s coach, Pavel Fedotov, revealed that “Bullet” was supposed to fight Natalia Silva at UFC 332, but ligament damage to her back and shoulders forced Shevchenko out of the event. Given the long recovery time, Fedotov says the plan is to get healthy and then fight for the title upon her return
“We were supposed to fight on Oct. 3 against Natalia Silva, but due to an injury to the ligaments in the shoulder and back, we decided not to push things and postpone the fight,” Fedotov said. “Given that the recovery will take a long time, we’ve made the decision to temporarily vacate the belt, and once she recovers, she will fight for it again.”
Shevchenko is one of the most accomplished fighters of all time, with nine flyweight title defenses and tied for fourth all-time in UFC title fight wins.
