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Valentina Shevchenko talks MMA experience, staying dominant and Jessica Andrade's power

UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko doesn't think Jessica Andrade can hit harder than Amanda Nunes and says her 28 years of experience as a mixed martial artist will play heavily into their bout at UFC 261 on April 24.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole, and it is my privilege right now to be joined by one of the greatest fighters I have ever seen in my life-- and believe me, that's a long life. I've seen a lot of fighters-- Valentina Shevchenko the UFC women's flyweight champion, who will defend her title in Jacksonville on April 24th against Jessica Andrade the former straw weight champion. Valentina, how are you, my friend?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: Hello, Kevin. Everything good. Just coming back from the training. Today we had very strong training, and just driving back home to have some rest, to have some food, enjoy the day.

KEVIN IOLE: The one thing I like about you more than anything else, is you're going to have good training every day. Because you might be the most consistent athlete I've ever come across, don't have a lot of ups and downs. It seems like you're able to keep a pretty consistent workload. How do you pull that off, that you're so consistent day after day and fight after fight?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: I would say, first of all, it's like experience what I have in martial arts. Doing martial arts for 28 years it's bring me a lot of experience. Second and most important, it's like knowing what I want. What is number one for me. And to be able to get rid from all unnecessary things, and like to focus only one thing that's really important, to be successful in martial arts, to be dominated as a fighter. And just to prepare for each fight is if it's my best fight.

KEVIN IOLE: Valentina, It's just human nature to kind of get, you know, once in a while you're training it's like we all-- like I love my job, but there's days I say I'd rather be out golfing, right. You don't seem like you have that, like where you get tired of it, or you get bored, or whatever. I mean do you ever have those days in training where like as you're driving into the gym that you'd rather do something else?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: You know, during the training camp it's very hard. It's very hard. Recently I was asked like when is the last time you feel that you don't want to train that you're waking up in the morning and you don't want to train? And I say that this is like a very common feeling during the training camp because it's hard. And really, you are kind of like, oh no, but then you like starting to understand and your mind take it over because it's like saying you, you have to train because you are prepared for the important fight. It's normal things that's happening.

But the most important how-- as a definition of the champion and the average fighter-- how you can control your emotion. If you can turn it into the like you have to. You have to really focus, and do your best what you can do in the training, in your job, in every thing. This is like defying you as a fighter, define you as a person. But if you're thinking, oh, looks like my body is not ready today, looks like my mind is ready. I better go do something else. This is your definition. This is really like say like what type of fighter you are.

KEVIN IOLE: That's very interesting. Jessica Andrade is an interesting opponent for you because not only, obviously she's got a championship pedigree and has won a lot of big fights, but she has fought in all these different weight classes, right? I mean, she's been bantamweight, she's been in [? straw ?] weight, she's fighting at fly weight right now. And Rose [INAUDIBLE] said in her interviews, my lord, how hard Jessica can hit. So I wonder when you look at her is that power the biggest concern that you have, just being able to deal with the punching power that she brings?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: You know, I really don't think that she can hit harder than Amanda Nunes, that she kicks harder than Holy Home, that she can wrestle better than Julianna Baena. I don't know. When she was fighting in bantamweight, yeah, she was fighting there. But when I was fighting there, I fought there with the best, with the top, with the elite. And this is not my concern about just the hit. It's not my concern about just like wrestle technique, some specific technique, only one technique. This is not only why.

My concern, it's like more deeper. It's like know exactly your opponent and how I say like you have to understand what she can bring. But you cannot-- it's not good underestimate your opponent, but either not to overestimate your opponent. So you cannot do that, because you know exactly-- you have to know exactly-- what you're going to face. And yeah, she hits strong, she wrestle good. But my opponents they're the best in their business. I was fighting with the best ones and this is like why I am the champion because I want to fight the best. And this is only one reason, one opportunity, to prove that to us the best. To fight with the best fights.

KEVIN IOLE: I am trying to think if you've ever had an opponent who is as short as she is-- so this is a fight where you have a pretty significant height advantage. I think it's 4 inches and you've got a good size reach advantage, does that make a difference like having a height advantage like you do-- 5'5" I believe she's 5'1". Does that play any role in the fight do you think?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: It's just different approach. It's going to play too much it just different approach for say a training camp, for say a specific like time [INAUDIBLE], for the distance. It's nothing something special. It's just different. In my Muay Thai career, I was fighting with different opponents, taller, shorter. In the UFC I didn't have this opportunity, I don't know why, because everybody was at my height or even like way, way, way higher. So it's just like how you will manage. How you're going to manage it. For someone like fighting someone taller, it's bringing a lot of trouble. For another person, they just like to learn and seize the opportunity how they can deal with this situation. And this society is the same. It's all about how you will deal with it.

KEVIN IOLE: I'm wondering, you have fought all around the world. You've so much experience. So you're going to fight your fight. But fans are back, and that's going to get the adrenaline a little bit up I would think for you, right, going back in there when you have some fans sitting in front of you. How do you anticipate that being, will the butterflies be at a higher level because once again you're going to be in a sold-out arena and the place going crazy when you make the walk?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: I think it's going to be more crazy than at and any time it was before. Because after the whole year that it was like no crowd at all, and the people just like going to be like very exciting to see it's live and be in the event, and the first event after a while. So yeah, definitely it's going to bring way, way more adrenaline. And yeah, this is going to be, I think, great things.

KEVIN IOLE: I want to ask you this, last year when the UFC became the first sports organization to put on events after the pandemic began, they got a lot of criticism for it. But you and I both have been in the bubble that they created, and I have always felt very safe in there and then it was really well run and that it wasn't a significant concern. Now, this event with fans there-- and I wonder if it's the opposite thing there hasn't been a lot of criticism yet-- but do you think as an athlete, are you concerned? Some people have said it might be a super-spreader event, and that this could be a thing with COVID because we're not over it yet. Do you have any concerns about that, kind of the opposite end of where we were a year ago?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: I know exactly is that you see taken care very high level taken care of all athletes, of all UC athletes. And this is, I know exactly, if they're doing something, they're like taking all precautions before the fight. So they're looking up to the athletes, they are really doing great their job. And if it's like time to do it, it's time. It's already. Literally, I feel yes, this is the time. It's like over one year. So we have to start.

We have to start from something and I think it's amazing that we are starting it. And definitely I can say is that what you see doing for the sports, for the fans, for the athletes, there shouldn't be any criticism. Because like with this like hard time, we fighters had job. And we constantly could fight. You just really have to like-- if you want to fight, you can fight. And this is amazing things what's happened. Because not everyone has the same opportunities.

Mostly athletes, they just had to sit and wait and do nothing. Just like train with no performance. And I think like you see fighters they're very lucky to have these opportunities. That's why in my opinion, it shouldn't be any criticism towards UC. And me personally, I feel that yes, we are at a certain time but yes, this is exactly time when we have to start to have all audience back.

KEVIN IOLE: Awesome. The last thing I want to run past you. You've been the champion for a while now, you've made some defenses, do you have any goals related to that. Like you do you sit there and say, I want to set a record that maybe nobody can ever touch for most title defenses in my division. You look at the men where George Saint Pierre and Anderson Silva and Demetrius Johnson, they won and they had a lot of-- John Jones of course as well-- had a lot of consecutive defenses. Is there anything like that that motivates you as you now are so established as the champion and one of the greatest fighters of all time?

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: You know I kind of feel that when the person trying to set goals like and follows his goals, it's just like it's not good. It's not good for the like internal feeling what one can have. Because you have this pressure and you are thinking, oh no, I have to rush in some way, or I have to do that, I have to like another thing. And if something going not that way as they planned, they are so frustrated. They try and do like crazy things. They're starting to act like, literally, like you're thinking like, what they are doing. It's not that's how it's supposed to be. And that's why I don't like it. I don't like to set goals.

I just want to be a martial artist, to enjoy my life in the martial arts, to be successful, to be dominant champion, to open for any opportunities that's going to come. And like it doesn't mean that I'm stuck in one place and I'm not going to move. I mean about like fights opportunities. I open for anything, but I just want to like to be like as everyone expected. Everyone wants to hear just like for example, say your favorite fight, say your favorite technique, just like simply things just like cliche. Just one without too much meaning.

But for me it's much more. Every fight it means a lot. Every fight it's like so much experience. That's why I don't want to be as a everyone. I don't want to act as like people like acting like what are they expecting. I just want to be myself, and do the way what I'm doing in my life, the way I feel it. And this is, for me, the most important. I don't want to repeat. I don't want to repeat words of someone else. I want to create my own words.

KEVIN IOLE: That's awesome. Now, I do have a goal. I know you said you don't have goals. I have a goal, which is never to miss a Valentina Shevchenko fight. That is a thing I've got on my plate.

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: This is good goal. This is so great goal.

KEVIN IOLE: I wish you the best, you're a lot of fun to watch, a lot of fun to talk to. Valentina Shevchenko fighting [INAUDIBLE] April 24th, in Jacksonville, Florida. [INAUDIBLE] Once again, champion, good luck. I appreciate you. Thank you so much.

VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO: Thank you so much, Kevin. Have a good day, bye bye.