Bullet: Nunes out of control due to nerves
Valentina Shevchenko: “I think she was out of control and she could not control all this nervousness. …. You have to be very strong to control it.”
As too often happens at MMA press conferences, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes shoved to contender Valentina Shevchenko when they had a faceoff in May. The two fight in the main event of UFC 213 on July 8.
I think she was out of control and she could not control all this nervousness, said ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko recently toMarc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. It’s a big event, media, all this stuff. You have to be very strong to control it. A person who cannot control it, she’s acting like she acts.
The two fought at UFC 196 in March of last year, with Nunes taking the decision. However, observers noted that Shevchenko was surging in the third round, and there was a widespread feeling that the fight could have gone differently if it was a five rounder. However, it wasn’t; Nunes won which earned her a title shot at then division champion Miesha Tate. Nunes defended the title successfully, defeating Ronda Rousey definitively at UFC 207 in December.
It’s very sad that I could not finish that time because of time, said Shevchenko. Maybe one minute more, it would be different. But I’m pretty sure this time I will finish her as soon as I can.
Shevchenko bounced back from the Nunes loss with a decision win over Holly Holm, and then tapped out Julianna Peña. The Venezuelan Vixen had been trash talking ferociously, which, Shevchenko said, was good preparation for Nunes.
If I don’t say nothing bad about my opponent, it doesn’t mean that my opponents never say it, said Shevchenko. Because I had that experience when Julianna Peña was talking some kinds of the same things.
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter for me nothing. Because really the one thing that matters is fight. And when the door is closed, no one will help her.
I know how to control and I know how to react in the right moments in the right place. It’s like a key for the victory. … I’m never starting first, but I will not be quiet when somebody offends me. Last time, I said with that push I will respond with 10 times more punches.
Nunes denied that nerves were the cause of the shove.
How am I gonna be nervous? she asked. I’ve been here so many times in the big show, bigger than this. Like [UFC] 200 was huge. My fight against Ronda was amazing. It’s not nervous — no time for that. I’m ready for her. And nothing is gonna change the result. I will walk out of the cage with the belt.
