Taila Santos vs. Valentina Shevchenko
UFC: Saturday, June 11th at 10:00 PM ET
The Line: -- Taila Santos +425 / Valentina Shevchenko -650 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: PPV Stream unmatched UFC coverage on ESPN+. Sign up now!
Valentina Shevchenko and Taila Santos face off in the co-main event in a women’s flyweight title bout at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
Valentina Shevchenko is not only one of the best women UFC fighters of all time, but she is also one of the best UFC fighters of all time. Shevchenko comes into this fight with a 22-3 record overall and she has won eight fights in a row. The last seven wins for Shevchenko has secured a UFC title. Her last fight came against Lauren Murphy and that was another dominant victory. Shevchenko outstruck Murphy 98-11 and late in the 4th round she finished the fight by knockout. Two fights ago against Jessica Andrade, she also won by knockout. Shevchenko is averaging 3.21 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 1.87 significant strikes per minute. She wants to get the fight to the ground and is averaging 2.62 takedowns every 15 minutes and she is successful on 64 percent of her takedown attempts. Once she gets to the fight to the ground, it’s really hard for her opponent to get up.
On the other side of this matchup is Taila Santos who sits with a 19-1 record overall and she has won four fights in a row. Santos last win came against Joanna Wood in November of 20201 and it was late in the first round that she locked in a rear-naked choke and secured the victory. Santos is averaging 3.71 significant strikes per minute and is averaging 2.23 significant strikes per minute. Santos is averaging 2.44 takedowns every 15 minutes and she is successful on 86 percent of her takedown attempts. She also stops 88 percent of her opponent's takedown attempts.
Taila Santos is good at takedowns, but this is a whole different beast against Shevchenko. I expect Santos will land a takedown or two, but Shevchenko is still going to dominate the fight, I think Santos will do enough to at least get to the final bell, but Shevchenko is going to dominate the fight with her wrestling. Back Shevchenko by decision.