The UFC have announced that Valentina Shevchenko will get her second shot at the flyweight title when she faces Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC231
The Muay Thai specialists will be headlining the event which takes place in Toronto, Canada.
This will be Shevchenko’s second opportunity to claim flyweight gold as she was set to challenge Nicco Montaño for the strap at UFC228 in Dallas earlier this month. However, Montaño was forced out of the fight and subsequently stripped of the title.
The multiple time Muay Thai champion has had one previous fight in the flyweight division when she completely pulverised Priscila Cachoeira back in February. Before that she went 3-2 in the bantamweight division, with her two losses coming against in close bouts against reigning champion Amanda Nunes.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk on the other hand was for the longest time the Queen of the UFC strawweight division.
Dubbed by many as the “boogey woman” the Polish fighter looked unstoppable throughout her reign, taking down opponents left, right and centre. She looked nailed on to break Ronda Rousey’s record for successive title defences by a female fighter until Rose Namajunas came along and knocked her out in the first round at UFC217 to claim the belt. She then lost a rematch against “Thug Rose” at UFC223 in April.
So both athletes are effectively moving opposite directions to meet in the middle and fight for a world title. Though many fans aren’t aware that this fight will not be the first time that the two women had squared off.
The pair actually fought three times whilst on the Muay Thai circuit, with Shevchenko coming out victorious on all three occasions.
There is no love lost between the pair and this fight in December between two world class strikers looks set to be a barn burner.
