Stake Partners With UFC Icon Shevchenko Before Her Return To The Cage

It's been a while since Valentina Shevchenko made her UFC debut. After ten years in the octagon, the Kyrgyzstani fighter is now one of the most dominant female fighters to ever grace the world of MMA.  For many people, Shevchenko who is nicknamed Bullet, is the best flyweight fighter in the history of sport.  They're not too far off if you ask us. 

As far as the universe of female fighting goes, there haven't been too many better fighters, more dominant, decorated, and easy to cheer for. Even after attaining worldwide fame, Valentina remained loyal to her roots and is still fighting from her hometown of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. A citizen of the world, Shevchenko also holds Russian and Peruvian citizenship, and speaks multiple languages making it a perfect ambassador for the sport.  

Notorious for her skills in kickboxing and Muay Thai, Shevchenko has an almost impeccable MMA record currently standing at 24 - 4 - 1. While entering the late stage of her career, Shevchenko is still top draw and at the upcoming UFC 315 she is scheduled to fight Manon Fiorot as the co-main event on the night. In addition to being a top fighter, Shevchenko is also a top draw for sponsorships, as it's evident with her latest collaboration. 

If you didn't know Valentina Shevchenko has become a member of the extended Stake MMA family, joining a plethora of UFC stars at representing the online casino and sports betting outlet. For a career spanning more than a decade this sponsorship is just one of the accolades the Bullet achieved throughout her career. Since her debut, the unofficial flyweight GOAT has squared off against the likes of Alexa Grasso, Holly Holm, Julianna Pena, and Amanda Nunes among many others. During her UFC stint, Shevchenko has defended the title seven times, losing only once in the process to Alexa Grasso,  and has only vacated the title once in the period from March 2023 to September of 2024. 

After a tad bit less than a year, the time has come once again for Shevchenko to take her skills into the octagon and defend the title once again. This is a situation in which Shevchenko has been plenty of times, but it is a good time to make a recap on her recent form, the form of her opponent, and what awaits the Bullet at UFC 315. 

What's There for Shevchenko at UFC 315? 

UFC 315 is the latest event in the UFC calendar, and plenty is expected from the PPV event which will feature the bouts such as Shevchenko vs. Fiorot was the co-main event, and Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena as the main event for the night. The event is scheduled for 10th of May at the Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. While there's plenty of good fights on the card, the focus will definitely be on the two title defences, with a focus on what legendary Shevchenko can do against another title contender in Manon Fiorot. 

After all, Shevchenko is widely regarded as the best WMMA fighters of all time based on her accolades, and style of fighting, as far as her weight class goes, and a bit beyond that. The Bullet debuted some decade ago in 2016 and since has echoed in eternity as far as MMA goes. Not only has he had one of the longest title reigns in sports, she also defended her title a record seven times. The Kirgiz fighter also won that same title on two occasions proving not only her longevity but unique quality rare in today's sport. Shevchenko lost her title in the hands of Alexa Grasso but managed to retake the belt in their next fight, proving to the world that she's still the champ while also showcasing a resilience only a true champion possesses. What's important to know if you plan to bet on UFC during UFC 315 is that Valentina Shevchenko is entering this bout as an underdog with her odds being set at 2.13 which provides unique betting opportunities.  

On the other hand, Manon Fiorot is one of the top title contenders that Shevchenko had to face during her illustrious career. A fighter that initiated her MMA career with a defeat has gone on a 12-win streak in her career, with an undefeated 7:0 record in the UFC. During her UFC stint, Manon has managed to defeat the likes of Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield earning her right to challenge Shevchenko for the title. While Fiorot had an impressive start to her career, finishing her opponents left and right, she's been taking her latest bouts to judges. While dominating opponents in recent bouts, her inability to finish the opponents might be a flaw too big to win against the reigning champion. 

Shevchenko might be the older fighter out of the two, and with 37 years to her name, father time might still be undefeated. Yet, Valentina is not ready to move on from her title as she has proven in her fights with Alexa Grasso. The division still belongs to Shevchenko, and losing the title to Grasso was just another motivational factor for Shevchenko to come back even stronger. At the moment she appears to be poised not only to fight Fiorot but to defend her title at least a few more times if she's successful this time around. Of course, no one is expecting another run of seven title defences, but holding off Manon, and the next one in line could be on the cards. 

At the same time, Manon Fiorot is favoured by the bookies to win this bout and end Shevchenko's title reign with her odds being set at 1.76. This comes as no surprise as Fiorot has been looking for the role of a title challenger since the first moment she stepped foot in the UFC octagon. She won all of her fights and a title bout was overdue. Having seven wins and no defeats definitely merits a title match, and Manon is more than looking for it.if you ask us, Fiorort doesn't have the skills not poise to take down Shevchenko in this bout, but both the bookies and the French fighter think otherwise. 

The ambitions of Fiorot go far beyond UFC 315. She is also eying a superfight that was in forks for Shevchenko. But, the first step remains their UFC 315 co-main event. While many were supposed to see Fiorot entering the bout as the favourite, the French fighter believes it is merited based on the domination she put out in her most recent fights, while Valentine was not able to do the same in her opinion. While noting that as far as she is concerned, odds do not play a role in the octagon, she still loves the fact that she's favoured over Shevchenko. The French fighter believes that the odds reflect both of their recent outings in which Fiorot dominated while the Bullet had closer encounters. 

During the pre-fight interviews, Fiorot stated that this is the fight she has been preparing for all this time. After seven wins, she finally has a chance to fight for the title, and Manon is glad that it is against Shevchenko. After all, Valentina was the champ when Fiorot entered the UFC and she's been eyeing a bout with the Kirgiz fighter since. Most fighters on the rise love to grab their first title by escorting a legend out, and Fiorot is no different.

While the focus is definitely on UFC 315, Manon Fiorot's ambitions go far beyond that. She's not only eying the UFC flyweight belt, but also wants to take Shevchenko's superfight that UFC has been preparing for a while. If you didn't know, UFC has been plotting to put the strawweight champ Weili Zhang against Shevchenko in one of the company's next events, but Fiorot wants to affect that fight too. In a scenario where she's the champ after UFC 315, Manon eyes the bout with Weili Zhang too. 

While it is always good to have high ambitions, and it is even necessary to succeed on the level where Shevchenko and Fiorot are, it is not wise to underestimate the Bullet. After all, Shevchenko is the reigning champ, and she didn't become one of the GOATs of the sport by looking at future fights but because she always focuses on the bout in front of her. Having this attitude has brought her way countless UFC accolades, millions of followers across the social media platforms, appearances on in film and television shows, and high-end sponsorship deals such as the one with Stake, which is an rather interesting collaboration and learn more about Shevchenko’s collaboration with Stake if you're up for it. As a fighter with so many fights, records, and sponsors, you can bet that Valentina is set for life, and that her only motive to fight is the desire to go down in history as one of the best to ever do it, and Manon Fiorot should not forget that. 

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While the UFC 315 co-main event is one for eternity it wouldn't be fair of us not to talk a bit about the main event for  the night which is the: 

Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena Fight

The way things stand right now, Belal Muhammad has had one of the more boring title reigns in the recent memory of the UFC fan base. Belal is by no means a popular champ and it shows. Fans are not keen on him even after a dominant display against Leon Edwards. Yet, the welterweight title belongs to Belal, and he is more than ready to defend it. With his unique mix of grappling and ability to mount pressure on opponents no one is safe in the octagon with Belal. It was evident that this combo can take out the best and Leon Edwards failed to find a way to counter Muhammad in their title bout. Now, it is Belal Muhammad's to defend his title and the opponent is Jack Della Maddalena. It is clear that Muhammad is going to apply the same strategy to him too, but it is worth noting that Jack is a different beast compared to Edwards making this bout a worthy main event at UFC 315. 

Jack Della Maddalena earned his right to fight for a title as he has been impressive since his UFC debut. Interestingly enough, JDM lost his first two professional fights, but he has been on an impressive 17-0 run since. From the moment he switched to UFC he is 7-0. His debut is a recent one, as he's been in the company since 2022. What's even more impressive is that out of those seven bouts the first four were finished by a KO/TKO, earning him four performance of the night bonuses. 

While everything said above is impressive, there are still plenty of doubts cast over Jack Della Maddalena's ability to be effective against a  fighter of Belal's style and quality. The bookmakers believe so too and JDM is currently a massive underdog at UFC 315 with his odds being set at 2.60 while Muhammad's win is paid by 1.53 odds. Yet, it shouldn't be neglected that Belal is 36, and is facing a much younger fighter with an amazing striking ability. If things go right for JDM, he could be in for KO/TKO early on, and break the odds in his favour. 

With only a few days to go until UFC 315, it is enough time to create your betting slips, and bet on your favourite fighters. If you ask us, this is an ideal event to cover the underdogs, and by pairing  Shevchenko's and JDMs wins, you get odds of 5.5 which is rather good for a two match combo. Even without betting, we are expecting two amazing and exciting title bouts in Canada that could bring two new champions our way.