On November 16 in New York at UFC 322, the Kyrgyzstani athlete faced Weili Zhang, a former champion of the UFC's minimum division and one of the best fighters according to PFP from China.
After the fight, Shevchenko shared her thoughts with @Sport24ru on why she decided not to finish her opponent after the first round.
“I prepared seriously for this fight. Considering that my previous title defense was not so long ago, I didn’t feel out of shape. I was ready for anything, and my intense training helped with that. I was confident that I could control the situation and wouldn’t let my opponent do anything,” she said.
“I landed several successful body shots, and I wanted to continue and finish the fight. However, when fighting a top-level fighter, the danger increases. She doesn’t forgive mistakes and has a powerful strike, which adds to the tension,” Valentina noted.
“Timing is crucial. If you make the slightest mistake, it can lead to going down to the floor. Mastery lies in knowing when to find the right moment. Unfortunately, Weili was too focused, and I couldn’t get close enough to finish her, even though my strike landed on her liver,” she added.
“Throughout the fight, I never had the feeling that something was going wrong. I clearly understood my actions and followed the planned strategy. But you can’t relax for a second, as the opponent is very serious, and any mistake can change the course of the fight,” Shevchenko concluded.
