And the digs keep on coming.
After Nicco Montano was stripped of her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight title after she was medically unfit to defend her strap against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 a few weeks ago, a title fight was booked to crown a new champion.
Competing for the 125-pound belt will be the aforementioned Shevchenko taking on former Strawweight queen, Joanna Jedrzejczyk , at the upcoming UFC 231 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Dec. 8, 2018 inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
For “Bullet,” her fight against “Joanna Champion” not only provides her a different challenge, but it also lets her go into training camp and into the final days of fight week knowing that her “professional” opponent won’t bail last minute.
“I’m glad UFC came up with this decision because now we can be 100 percent sure that this fight will happen, because Joanna is professional,” Shevchenko said during a recent interview with MMA Junkie.
“She will do everything right to prepare for the fight. I can be more relaxed without thinking, ‘Oh, maybe it will be someone else at the final minute, my opponent will drop out and they’ll have to find a replacement.’ Now I can be more relaxed preparing just exactly for Joanna.”
Of course, it’s not like Montano wanted kidney issues.
Shevchenko already holds three muay thai wins over Joanna, and though they are now fighting under very different rules, Valentina is confident her game is more well-rounded to give her a fourth win over the most dominant 115-pound female champion in MMA history.
“In the close distance, the high distance I can use more weapons as well because I can throw turning kicks, spinning kicks – everything,” Shevchenko said. “This is the more advantage that I have. I have more wide techniques I can choose for her. I will prepare and it will be a good fight.”
Joanna, meanwhile, earned the shot — much to the chagrin of the rest of the flyweight division — based on her history as a champion. Should she win the title, she will be in quite a predicament as she is fully focused on dropping back down strawweight to re-capture that title, too.
While Valentina is confident her foe will make it to the fight, the injury bug can bite anyone, "Bullet" and Joanna included.