Valentina Shevchenko surpassed Ronda Rousey's record by making her seventh consecutive title defence at UFC 275.
The 34-year-old has held the promotion's flyweight title since claiming unanimous decision victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 in 2018. Her seventh title defence came against Taila Santos as she prevailed by split decision, with her opponent suffering a fractured orbital bone after a sickening head clash.
Shevchenko's latest victory sees her overtake Rousey's record of six consecutive title defences before the American lost her bantamweight title to Holly Holm in 2015. On the way to her latest record, Shevchenko has taken some of the biggest scalps in her career, including wins over Jessica Eye and Jessica Andrade.
Since making her switch to the flyweight division in 2018, Shevchenko has looked virtually flawless, having not been defeated since facing Amanda Nunes in 2017. However, her fight against Santos was one of the tougher examinations of her reign as 125lb champion, as it was a tough grappling duel until the final bell.
Santos threatened to submit her opponent in multiple openings during the fight and was certainly a more game rival than her underdog tag suggested prior to the meeting. But after five rounds of action, Shevchenko was handed the split decision, with two judges scoring the contest 48-47 and 49-46 in her favour, while Santos was awarded one 48-47 card.
Many scored her as the narrow winner but were left unconvinced by the 49-46 ruling in the champion's favour. However, Shevchenko has since revealed her delight at being tested in a difficult bout which put her on the brink of defeat. “This is exactly what I wanted, opponents who are not giving up from the first few seconds, going to the end,” she said at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference.
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“In this kind of fight, you can really show what you’re made of, your character, your mindset. You get what is yours, victory, no matter how hard, no matter how difficult. It’s like showing who you are, so I am happy. She was inactive.
“Me being in that position I was striking [backward] and I felt the power of the strike and I felt how she reacted because it was hurting her. This is what counts the most in mixed martial arts – damage. Through the fight going round-to-round, you could see the damage showing on her face more and more.”
Rousey hasn't fought in the UFC since 2016, when she suffered her second consecutive defeat at the hands of Amanda Nunes after losing her title to Holm. However, the former UFC champion has a historic legacy with the promotion, having taken part in their first female fight back in 2013.
