VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO

Valentina Shevchenko is one of the most dominant female champions in MMA history. With a 22-3 record and 6 UFC flyweight title defenses, Shevchenko's credentials are worthy of a future UFC Hall of Famer. She is an all-round combat athlete who has also amassed a kickboxing record of 57-2 and a professional boxing record of 2-0. Considered one of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world, Shevchenko has beaten four UFC champions in her career.

Born in Kyrgyzstan and now based in Las Vegas, many assume that Valentina Shevchenko may have immigrated to the United States for her MMA career. While it is true that she has citizenship other than Kyrgyzstan, she would come as a surprise if she is from the far flung South American nation of Peru. Shevchenko has been a Peruvian citizen since 2008 and has continued to compete in professional boxing matches there. Peru is not the only other country where Valentina has roots.

Her grandparents are ethnic Russians who moved to Kyrgyzstan when it was still part of the Soviet Union. By 2000, then 12-year-old Valentina's kickboxing career was on the upswing, and she even spent time in Thailand learning Muay Thai and competing in tournaments. She would also compete in South Korea and China before deciding to make an excursion to Latin America when she was just 19 years old.

She and her sister Antonina arrived in Peru together with her trainer Pavel Fedotov, and the three of them began teaching martial arts there. She liked the culture so much that Fedotov moved his base of operations to Peru. Just over a year later, Valentina had become fluent in Spanish and obtained her citizenship, emphasizing her love for Peru.

While professional athletes dabbling in reality TV is nothing new, Valentina Shevchenko took it a step further by choosing to compete in a dance reality show broadcast in Peru called Combate. What really stands out is the fact that Valentina and her partner won everything.

She even showed off her wrestling skills on the show, taking on Peruvian professional boxer David Zegarra in a wrestling exhibition match. True to form, she submitted the boxer in less than 60 seconds to earn bragging rights. Many fans would have noticed the famous gun tattoo on Valentina's lower stomach. It's from a Glock with three extra bullets, and she got it to profess her passion for shooting. In fact, Valentina began firearms training when she was 18 years old and now she regularly participates in pistol shooting competitions around the world. Valentina considers shooting to be as important as martial arts, and she particularly loves the Glock pistol as it is easy to transport. She also feels that mastering guns gives her a fairly natural sense of security for a person with the Twitter handle 'bulletvalentina'.

MMA fans will definitely remember Shevchenko's nickname in the UFC: 'The Bullet,' considering the number of times Bruce Buffer yelled it out in the Octagon. The nickname suits Shevchenko's explosive speed and power, as well as her love of weapons, and was bestowed on her in 2000. Back in Kyrgyzstan, 12-year-old Valentina was training kickboxing, Vale Tudo and Muay Thai with coach Pavel Fedotov. At a local competition, Valentina took on an opponent ten years her senior and promptly knocked out the 22-year-old. Fedotov couldn't believe her speed in the

Valentina Shevchenko has an impressive 22-3 record in MMA with two of her losses in high profile bouts against her great opponent Amanda Nunes in the UFC. Her other loss came in her US MMA debut, losing a controversial fight to future UFC title contender Liz Carmouche in the C3 Fights promotion. Valentina dominated her rival, but an illegal upkick from Carmouche caused her to suffer a big cut. It should have been a disqualification win for Valentina, but the foul went undetected and the ringside doctor decided that Valentina could not continue with the injury. This resulted in a TKO victory for Carmouche via medical stoppage. Valentina would avenge that loss 9 years later in the main event of a UFC Fight Night.

During her stay in Kyrgyzstan, Valentina obtained a degree in filmmaking from the National Academy of Arts. While her film aspirations took a backseat due to her MMA career, she played the main antagonist in the 2020 Netflix sports drama Bruised starring Halle Berry.During her time in Kyrgyzstan, Valentina obtained a degree in filmmaking from the National Academy of Arts. While her film aspirations took a backseat due to her MMA career, she played the main antagonist in the 2020 Netflix sports drama Bruised starring Halle Berry.

Shevchenko played Latin American fighter Lucia Chavez, an MMA champion against whom Berry's character has a title fight. The film's attention resulted in Shevchenko also appearing on the cover of Women's Health magazine with Berry. The film also had a bit of controversy, with former UFC fighter Cat Zingano filing a lawsuit against Berry for broken promises regarding a role of hers in the film.

Valentina Shevchenko holds a number of records in the UFC: She has the most consecutive title fight wins in a particular division for an active UFC competitor with six in the women's flyweight division, the most wins, the most consecutive wins and the most wins by knockout in the history of that division as well as being No: 1 in the women's pound-for-pound ranking.

However, at UFC 255, Valentina and ella's sister Antonina de ella created a unique record: the Shevchenkos became the first sister duo to compete on the same UFC card. Valentina was in the co-main event and defeated Jennifer Maia by decision to retain her flyweight title. On the preliminary card, Antonina defeated Ariane Lipski via technical knockout to receive the performance of the night award, setting the stage for a strong performance from the Shevchenko family.