Valentina Shevchenko raised the Flyweight division, says Daniel Cormier

09 March 2023

Daniel Cormier is giving credit where it due. The former two-division UFC champion feels that Valentina Shevchenko deserves credit for raising the UFC Women’s Flyweight division

Cormier noted the same during the latest episode of the DC & RC Show where he noted that Shevchenko deserves same credit as Alexa Grasso.

“More than anything, RC, I think we have to give credit to Alexa Grasso and to Valentina Shevchenko. I get it, she lost her title. But Ryan, I say we have to give Valentina credit for this reason and this reason only: she elevated the entire division. She made everybody better, because she was so good that if you didn’t improve to that next level, you wouldn’t even have a chance,” Cormier said.

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He went on to add how Shevchenko raised the division.

“That’s why the older fighters that she was fighting earlier in her career and dominating didn’t have a chance against her. Because she was so much further in front of them. But all those young athletes that were coming up — the Taila Santos, who made her debut recently, the Alexa Grasso, who was at 115 (strawweight) and then went up — that whole time, they were not developed fully, they were getting better, and better, and better, knowing that when they got to the champ, they had to be at her level. Hats off to Valentina for raising the level of fighter in this division overall,” Cormier added.

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Shevchenko seems determined to reclaim the throne, despite the fact that UFC 285 appeared to herald the end of an era and the start of a new one in the history of flyweight fighting. "Bullet" has demanded a quick shot at atonement both in the Octagon following the bout and on social media.