Valentina Shevchenko Says The Fans Deserve To Hear From Nicco Montano

Valentina Shevchenko has called out UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano for a showdown at UFC 225 on June 9, but has yet to hear back on whether she has accepted the challenge.

Shevchenko defeated Priscila Cachoeira last month in Brazil in what was her debut fight at 125-pounds in the UFC. With that dominant win now under her belt, Shevchenko believes she’s now in prime position to challenge the champion and just last week, she laid the challenge down to Montano to meet her at UFC 225 in Chicago.

Speaking yesterday to Submission Radio, Shevchenko gave an update on whether she’d heard back from the UFC about the potential fight.

“We’re still in conversations with the UFC and my manager is talking to the UFC about this stuff and my next fight, about the date and everything like this,” Shevchenko said. “But yes, I was thinking about Chicago because I had a very good memory about Chicago in 2016 I fought Holly Holm there so it was a very beautiful place for me and I have good memories from there.

“Also, I have a very big community of Kirgizstan people there so I know there will be like a lot of fans that will come and support me in Chicago. That’s why I was thinking that June 9 would be a great opportunity to have a fight there.”

Despite Shevchenko putting the challenge out there, she’s yet to hear back from the champion Montano. The silence isn’t something that the Peruvian-Kyrgyz appreciates and she thinks that if anything it’s the fans who deserve more from a fighter currently holding UFC gold.

“I heard that she already started to train,” Shevchenko said. “So I was thinking from now it’s about 3 or 4 months so that’s enough time to be in good shape and good preparation so let’s see. I didn’t hear too much from her, but I hope she will talk soon and hopefully she will accept because I don’t see another [fight]. I just see my next fight will be Nico for the title.”

“She deserves that title because she won it in that fight. She won it in that fight but she has to move forward and she has to defend it. Like I said, there is no way to be so quiet and to don’t say nothing. In my opinion, if you’re a champion you have to speak with people and you have to respond. It doesn’t matter how you feel right now, even If you have your injury or something like that, she has to talk something and speak because it’s not good for a fan to just be so quiet and not say nothing. Fans really deserve to hear something.”

Full Interview (21:18 start)