Shevchenko says that referee decision might have led to her loss to Grasso

Valentina Shevchenko is not happy with some decisions from the referee at the UFC 285 main event.

Long-time flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko lost her championship at UFC 285 after Shevchenko delivered a spinning back kick, and Grasso countered by leaping on the champion's back and applying a rear-naked choke.

Talking during the MMA Hour, Shevchenko noted that it does not make sense for her to not try the spinning kick.

“It’s hard to say I shouldn’t throw that spinning back kick. It’s a very powerful kick. It’s a very strong kick. I’ve done so many knockouts with this spinning back kick. It’s just the situation. It’s the fourth round and you feel not as fresh as the first round, and some actions of the referee could have provoked this tiredness that I felt during the fourth round. It’s the situation,” she said.

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Speaking further, she noted that the decision from the referee to stand up the fight was something that contributed to the loss.

“In this fight, we were on the ground position, I was in her guard and landing big shots over her, and he just decided to stand us up and continue the striking. It’s kind of the same situation where I say it could affect the fighter, what they do to take their opponent down. They spend so much energy to [score a] takedown first, and second to hold them down, and when you [get a takedown] you definitely want to use the situation because you spend so much energy. And when it was decided, ‘Oh no, in my opinion you don’t have to be there. You have to fight in the stand-up,’ it’s kind of working against you because it affects your performance, because you have to build the situation all over again,” Shevchenko added.

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What do you think of the statement from Shevchenko? Let us know in the comments below.

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