With the narrow margin of just a one-round lead across all three official scorecards, Valentina Shevchenko did just enough to defend her UFC Flyweight Championship against Manon Fiorot on Saturday night.
Shevchenko pulled off a close scorecard win in the co-main event of UFC 315, which took place at the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada this weekend.
Fiorot gave Shevchenko trouble in clinch and ground positions, forcing the defending champ to dig deep for the win on Saturday.
At first, it didn’t seem like Shevchenko would have a hard night at the office. Fiorot struggled greatly in the opening frame of the fight, getting cracked a few times by the champ’s right hand and sporting a bloody nose as she returned to her corner.
But the bout became much closer beyond that point, as Fiorot started to find success by closing the distance. The French contender got Shevchenko down to the mat in the second round, and a round later was able to remain active with strikes in a clinch position after failing to come up with a takedown.
The fourth was another hard round to call between the flyweights, that was, until Shevchenko floored Fiorot in the closing moments with another right hook.
On a pair of official scorecards, the bout was tied after 20 minutes. Since it takes at least two judges ruling in a fighter’s favor to walk away with a win, it meant a solid final round from either talent could still earn them the victory by that point.
The final frame was a hard one to call, although it was the moments at kickboxing range from Shevchenko which saw her take the frame on two scorecards, doing enough to walk away with a unanimous decision win.
“I was expecting a very hard fight, because Manon, she’s a very hard opponent, good striker,” Shevchenko said in her post-fight interview. “Everything that we [were] getting ready [to do] for the fight, I was able to do.”
Saturday marked Shevchenko’s first appearance since regaining the flyweight belt last year, defeating Alexa Grasso to close out a three-fight rivalry which started back in March 2023.
As Shevchenko spent the past two years feuding with Grasso, Fiorot emerged as one of the division’s best contenders. The French fighter had an undefeated run of seven UFC wins prior to Saturday, taking down names like former title challengers Jennifer Maia and Katlyn Cerminara, as well as past strawweight champ Rose Namajunas.
The result in Montreal only furthers Shevchenko’s legacy as the most dominant 125-pound woman in UFC history, having defended her title a combined eight times between two title reigns.
Here are the quick results for UFC 315:
Main Card
- Jack Della Maddalena def. Belal Muhammad via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Welterweight Championship)
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Manon Fiorot via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Flyweight Championship)
- Aiemann Zahabi def. Jose Aldo via Decision, Unanimous
- Natalia Silva def. Alexa Grasso via Decision, Unanimous
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Kyle Prepolec via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 2, 2:35)
Preliminary Card
- Mike Malott def. Charles Radtke via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:26)
- Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Jessica Andrade via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:40)
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Ion Cutelaba via Decision, Split
- Navajo Stirling def. Ivan Erslan via Decision, Unanimous
Early Prelims
- Marc-Andre Barriault def. Bruno Silva via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:27)
- Daniel Santos def. Lee Jeong-yeong via Decision, Unanimous
- Bekzat Almakhan def. Brad Katona via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:04)
