Taila Santos claims Valentina Shevchenko doesn’t want to rematch her.
Santos earned the flyweight title shot by submitting Joanne Wood in the first round, which was her fourth straight win. Yet, heading into the fight not many were giving the Brazilian much of a chance against Shevchenko, but that ended up not being the case.
Santos had a ton of success on the feet and in the grappling exchanges and won some rounds. When the fight went to the scorecards, many thought Santos was about to be crowned the new champ. One judge scored the fight for her but it wasn’t enough as she lost a split decision.
Since the fight, Santos has called for the rematch but is now accusing Shevchenko of ducking the rematch.
Taila Santos Talks Valentina Shevchenko Ducking Rematch
“We’ve been asking for fights over and over again — asking for the rematch, really,” Santos said in an interview with MMA Fighting.
“Tiago [Okamura, manager] spoke with Mick [Maynard] and the UFC, informed them I was well and training. They even said that Valentina was running. She asked them for fights, but not against me… I’m training and waiting, but it’s been hard to get a fight. I wanted the rematch, but Valentina didn’t agree to it. Based on her social media, she’s just traveling.”
In the fight, Santos believes she showed that Shevchenko is not as good as many make her out to be. Along with that, she believes she exposed the champ which is why she is scared to rematch her.
“All the girls say Valentina is a monster, but I’ve been saying for a while she has no ground game,” Santos said. “I showed that there was no reason to fear [her]. I knew she wouldn’t accept a rematch after that fight. I called her out anyway, but I knew she wouldn’t take the risk of losing her belt. She wouldn’t rematch me after I showed she was no big deal. She’s scared.”
Taila Santos Next Fight
With Santos not expecting Shevchenko to rematch her, she wants to fight soon and hopes to fight in Brazil on January 21 at UFC 283. She doesn’t care who it is but hopes it is someone ranked around her.
“I’m ranked No. 2 in the UFC, so I would like to fight someone around me,” Santos said. “I would like to fight the No. 1, [Manon] Fiorot, or the one below me, [Katlyn] Chookagian. People keep talking and talking, mentioning fighters that have retired already, but no one says my name.”
