Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber weren’t entirely surprised by Valentina Shevchenko’s win over Manon Fiorot.
Shevchenko retained her flyweight title earlier this month by outlasting Manon Fiorot in the UFC 315 co-main event. Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who square off in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 68 (ESPN, ESPN+) headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, weighed in on the outcome of the fight.
With a win, both fighters are looking to secure the next shot at Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC).
“I think Valentina looked really good that night,” Blanchfield told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “She looked right back to her old self. She kept her distance, she was countering really well. I think Manon was kind of coming in a little bit harder.
“Usually she’s more of a point fighter, uses a lot of movement. But Valentina was almost luring her into her game. Valentina was just out-striking her. Manon would get some takedowns, but she couldn’t really do too much with it, and I felt like Valentina was really dictating that fight.”
Barber said she expected the outcome as it happened.
“It was close,” Barber said. “I didn’t have a lot of emotion towards it just because I’ve been so focused on the fight that I have, but I think that Manon is a great fighter. I don’t think she has a whole lot of championship personality, but I also didn’t really have any surprise that Valentina continued to do what she’s been able to do best, and that’s have dominant performances over these women.”
