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Opinion: Valentina Shevchenko can save women’s MMA by not returning to 125 pounds

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1 month ago

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Opinion: Valentina Shevchenko can save women’s MMA by not returning to 125 pounds

Every week I do a mailbag column, but some weeks, I go off on such a tangent answering one question that I don't really have the space to answer any other ones. This is one of those weeks.

Valentina Shevchenko can save all of women's MMA with one weird trick

I think the women's flyweight and strawweight divisions are better off without Valentina and Weili. The divisions really open up without the two dominant, minimally-active champs. While jogging this morning, I listened to a podcast that had a guest cohost propose Valentina should move up to bantamweight and face the winner of Kayla vs. Amanda, and he claimed it would solve multiple problems. Do you agree with his take?

I do agree with this take. That sounds like a wise and brilliant man. (It's me; I'm the guy he's referring to).

For those of you who watch our shows, this will not be a new take for you, but I wanted to write about it anyway because I genuinely believe this to be one of my greatest ideas ever. Even better than MMAjors, and those are gold: The UFC should sit down with Valentina Shevchenko and politely inform her that her services are no longer needed at 125 pounds.

“WHAT?!†you say, shocked and appalled that I would disrespect one of the greatest fighters in history in such a manner. But that's only because you don't have the vision; you can't see what I see.

Look out at the state of women's MMA right now. Just look at it. Would you say the three women's weight classes in the UFC are thriving? Of course not. They are arguably the worst they've ever been. Strawweight and bantamweight are populated by many of the same names from nearly a decade ago, and flyweight is stuck living under the oppressive yoke of, in my opinion, the greatest female fighter of all time. There's no juice, no excitement, and very little intrigue. We've started to get some new blood coming up, but those are still just seeds; the harvest is not yet ready.

But dear reader, what if I told you that I can inject a shot of life into ALL THREE women's divisions with just one move: forcing Shevchenko to move up to 135 pounds.

Think about it. Women's bantamweight is probably the worst weight class in the entire sport right now. I mean, it has NOTHING going on outside of the title fight between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes that was just announced for UFC 334. That fight rocks, but what comes next? Will Harrison or Nunes stick around to fight Joselyne Edwards? Would anyone care if she did?

No, women's bantamweight needs any port in the storm to stay afloat, and the only remotely interesting or viable port right now is Shevchenko. If Nunes wins, she and Shevy have history, and that trilogy is for the undisputed WMMA GOAT belt. If Harrison wins, she gets a chance to add another legend to a resumé that's sorely lacking in them. And for Shevchenko, it's a chance to do the one thing she hasn't done and make her career unparalleled.

But Shevchenko moving up does so much more than save bantamweight (at least for another year); think about what it does for flyweight. Dominant champions are good for MMA, but they're bad for divisions. When every fight feels like a predetermined win, the only excitement for fans is the rare upset, and the vain hope of them.

We look back in awe of Demetrious Johnson and Anderson Silva and Jon Jones, but I lived through those title reigns, and I remember the general malaise around many of those fights because we knew what would happen. Shevchenko has mostly lived in that zone for the past eight years (with a two-year break for the Alexa Grasso trilogy). Shevchenko's greatness has dimmed the shine of dozens of other fighters, and the possible intrigue they could bring.

When the UFC first announced that Shevchenko was vacating the title, I thought it was it was transparent and silly (and it is), but then my very next thought was, “Man, flyweight's kinda fun if she's not there anymore.†When the cat's away, the mice can play, and imagine how much more interesting 125 pounds gets when Natalia Silva, Alexa Grasso, Erin Blanchfield, Manon Fiorot, Wang Cong, and others are suddenly in a Queen of the Hill battle royale instead of each pushing a Sisyphean boulder up Mount Shevchenko?

But the true beauty of this move is the knock-on effects, because if Shevchenko is gone from 125 pounds, then that means Zhang Weili doesn't need to go back to 115.

Like Shevy, Zhang's presence at strawweight, at this point, does more harm than good, because she's simply so much better than everyone that the rest of the weight class has no room to grow. It's hilarious that Mackenzie Dern is a UFC champion at this point, but it's significantly more interesting to see which of these various contenders will unseat her than it is to watch an endless parade of lambs to the Zhang slaughterhouse.

And like Shevchenko with Silva or Cong, if you send Zhang back down to 115 to reclaim the title, then it just reveals what a mummer's farce the Dern title reign was. Everyone already believes Dern to be a paper champion, but better for that to be idle chatter than prove them all right by sending her to the gallows. And for what? Who else is there for Zhang to fight until Fatima Kline levels up?

No, the answer is simple, my friends: for the good of the sport, Valentina Shevchenko needs to move back up to 135 pounds. Sit her cageside at Madison Square Garden as a statement of intent, and let's have “Bullet†save the sport.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who sent in questions! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you're in luck, because every week I put a prompt into The Feed for your questions. Fire them there, and I'll answer the best ones in the Mailbag and try to get to the rest in the responses.

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MMA

UFC Vegas 123: 'Moicano vs. Nolan' Live Results and Highlights

Published

6 hours ago

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October 31, 2026

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UFC Vegas 123: 'Moicano vs. Nolan' Live Results and Highlights
Trending:

Pros react after Alexander Volkanovski TKO's Movsar Evloev at UFC 333

The fights return to the Apex for tonight's UFC Vegas 123 event, a 12-bout fight card headlined by Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan.

Moicano (21-7-1 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since submitting Chris Duncan this past April with a face crank. That triumph snapped a two-fight losing skid for ‘Money', who had previously dropped fights to Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev (see that here). The Brazilian has gone 5-2 over his past seven fights overall.

Meanwhile, Tom Nolan (11-1 MMA) will enter the Octagon sporting a five-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming over Fares Ziam this past June. ‘Big Train' suffered his lone career loss back in January of 2024, when he was TKO'd by Nikolas Motta in his promotional debut.

UFC Vegas 123 is co-headlined by a welterweight bout featuring Randy Brown taking on Jacobe Smith.

Image Credit: Randy Brown's Instagram

Brown (20-8 MMA) will enter the Octagon with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid, this after suffering back-to-back losses against Gabriel Bonfim and Kevin Holland respectively. Prior to those setbacks, ‘Rude Boy' was coming off a second-round knockout victory over Nicolas Darby in April of 2025.

Meanwhile, Jacobe Smith (13-0 MMA) will be making a quick turnaround, this after earning a first-round TKO victory over Bruce Whitehead just four weeks ago at UFC 332 (see that here).

Also featured on tonight's UFC Vegas 132 main card is a welterweight bout between Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani and Farman Hasanov.

Lebosnoyani (11-2 MMA) will enter the contest on a six-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming over Seok Hyeon Ko this past July. ‘Mufasa' has gone 2-0 since making his Octagon debut back in February.

Meanwhile, Farman Hasanov (5-0) made his promotional debut back in June at UFC Baku, where he kept his perfect record in check with a unanimous decision win over Eric Nolan. ‘The Lion' has earned stoppage wins in three of his five professional fights.

Get all of tonight's live results and highlights below (refresh for updates):

UFC Vegas 123 Main Card (8pm EST on Paramount+)

155 lbs: Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan – Nolan def. Moicano via TKO (ground and pound) at of Round 3

170 lbs: Randy Brown vs. Jacobe Smith – Smith def. Brown by unanimous decision (30-26 x3)

125 lbs: Ode' Osbourne vs. Cody Durden – Durden def. Osbourne by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

135 lbs: Yana Santos vs. Luana Santos – Luana Santos def. Yana Santos by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

170 lbs: Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. Farman Hasanov – Lebosnoyani def. Hasanov via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 2:11 of Round 3

UFC Vegas 123 Prelims (5pm EST on Paramount+)

145 lbs: Francis Marshall vs. Dakota Hope –

170 lbs: Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Theodor Berggren – Sezinando def. Berggren via TKO (cut) at 5:00 of Round 2

145 lbs: Julian Erosa vs. Jeong Yeong Lee – Erosa def. Lee via KO (punches) at 1:31 of Round 1

185 lbs: Zachary Reese vs. Mickey Gall – Reese def. Gall by unanimous decision (29-27 x3)

185 lbs: Nick Klein vs. Joseph Kropschot – Kropschot def. Klein via submission (armbar) at 1:25 of Round 2

115 lbs: Talita Alencar vs. Piera Rodriguez – Rodriguez def. Alencar by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

125 lbs: Lucia Szabova vs. Tainara Lisboa – Szabova def. Lisboa via TKO (punches) at 3:20 of Round 3

Who are you picking to emerge victorious in tonight's lightweight main event between Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan? Share your predictions in the comment section Penn Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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16-0 Farid Basharat confirms UFC exit after seven straight wins

Published

15 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

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16-0 Farid Basharat confirms UFC exit after seven straight wins
Farid
Basharat has addressed his departure from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship in a statement on social
media.

Basharat (16-0) completed his contract with a victory over John Garza
in July and wasn't offered a new deal despite going unbeaten in the
promotion. In his statement, Basharat reflected on his UFC tenure
and questioned the organization's direction.

Farid Basharat says the UFC never offered a new contract after
his unbeaten seven-fight run

Basharat went 7-0 in the UFC after earning a contract on
Dana White's Contender Series, with six of those victories
coming by decision. He confirmed his departure on Instagram, saying
he competed under unfavorable circumstances and never declined a
fight.

“The news is confirmed, I am no longer with the UFC,†Basharat
wrote on Instagram. “I've had an incredibly successful time in the
organization. I'm proud and happy with what I've accomplished
inside the Octagon. I leave with a stainless record. Holding the
longest active win streak in my weight division and the fourth
longest in the entire UFC. I feel I'm the best bantamweight in the
world. I always turned up and fought regardless of injuries and
weight deficits. And I always asked for the toughest opponent to
get me closer to the title.â€

While grateful for his time with the promotion and its staff,
Basharat questioned the UFC's direction and said he had not
received a contract offer since his last bout.

“But my departure clearly has nothing to do with my fighting
capabilities,†Basharat added. “Unfortunately, the organization
just isn't what it used to be. They're heading in a different
direction from what we all grew up loving. I want to clarify that
since my last fight, I was never offered a contract or an opponent;
I waited, but it never came. I've certainly never declined a fight
during my whole tenure.â€

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MMA

Canelo vs. Mbilli video: Bek Nurmaganbet knocks out Marcos Vazquez in violent fashion

Published

17 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

By

Canelo vs. Mbilli video: Bek Nurmaganbet knocks out Marcos Vazquez in violent fashion

Bek Nurmaganbet Bek Nurmaganbet certainly packs a punch.

Nurmaganbet knocked out Marcos Vazquez with a devasting combo at the 2:57 mark of the first round on the Canelo vs. Mbilli undercard at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday afternoon.

For Nurmaganbet, it was another impressive showing. He also knocked down Vazquez earlier in the first round before the impressive finishing sequence.

With the win, Nurmaganbet improves to 16-0 with the 14th knockout of his career. He has knocked out his past 12 opponents.

Vazquez drops to 21-4-1 with the defeat. He has lost four of his past five fights.

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