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Report: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche Set for UFC Fight Night in August
June 19, 2019
Liz Carmouche and Valentina Shevchenko are set for a rematch at UFC Fight Night on Aug. 10, according to ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto.
The two last met in September 2010. Carmouche earned a TKO victory in the second round because of a medical stoppage. It's the only one of Shevchenko's three losses in which she failed to go the distance.
Shevchenko addressed the fight in an interview with BJPenn.com Radio:
"Our history... it was like some kind of medical stoppage. I was dominating all round, I was throwing combinations, I even took her down. I came for the leg lock and she threw from the ground — I was standing on my feet — she throws the heel and it landed right on my brow. So [I got] this cut on the eye and the doctor decided to stop the fight. This was not the way I planned [it], I was ready to continue the fight but the doctor decided different way."
Shevchenko captured the UFC women's flyweight championship in December after defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She then successfully defended the belt June 8 against Jessica Eye, knocking out Eye in the second round.
Carmouche took unanimous decisions against Jennifer Maia and Lucie Pudilova in her last two fights following a split-decision loss to Alexis Davis at UFC Fight Night 123 in December 2017.
Okamoto reported in May that the UFC was lining up Carmouche against Roxanne Modafferi for July 20. With Carmouche now fighting in August, Okamoto wrote the promotion is looking for a new opponent to oppose Modafferi next month.
Eye is listed as the No. 1 challenger in the women's flyweight division in the UFC's official rankings, which obviously doesn't reflect Shevchenko's most recent win.
Carmouche is third on the list behind Katlyn Chookagian. Considering she has wins over both Shevchenko and Chookagian (UFC 205 in November 2016), she's a sensible choice for Shevchenko's next title defense.