Challenger Fiorot is slight betting favorite in title fight
UFC 315: Valentina Shevchenko media day interview
UFC 315 co-headliner Valentina Shevchenko spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for her women’s flyweight title defense vs. Manon Fiorot.
MONTREAL – If Manon Fiorot thought she could rattle her next opponent with a few words, the champ says she has another thing coming Saturday.
Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC), from France, will be fighting in front of a likely friendly crowd in the UFC 315 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) co-main event at Bell Centre in Montreal, where French is the official language, when she challenges women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) for the title.
But Shevchenko, who will make her first attempted defense of the belt in her second reign as champ, thinks some of what Fiorot has been over the line.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to compare myself to her because I never will approach any of my opponents with so much disrespect like she did,” Shevchenko said Wednesday at the UFC 315 media day.
Fiorot has been perfect in the UFC so far, but with five straight decision wins after a pair of stoppages in her first two bouts in the promotion. She’s also a slight betting favorite in the fight, which is rare for a first-time title challenger against a champion with Shevchenko’s credentials.
But Shevchenko has more than twice as much MMA experience as the 35-year-old Fiorot, and that’s not dragging her other experience into the conversation. So Shevchenko’s point seems to be if Fiorot thinks she can win the fight with words on social media or at a news conference, there may be a reality check coming.
“My experience in martial arts is so many years,” Shevchenko said. “I started when I was 5, and all these years before joining the UFC, I was already a 17-time world champion in muay Thai, in MMA, in kickboxing.
“So imagine how many different characters I was able to meet and how many words they could say or something. If everything would bother me, I’d never achieve what I’ve achieved. My biggest ability is to block what’s happening all around and focus on the main goal.”
Check out Shevchenko’s full interview above.
