issue 219

July 2025

Valentina Shevchenko has lived more lives than most and E. Spencer Kyte traces the journey of a fighter shaped by every border crossed, every lesson earned, and a fire that refuses to fade.

Much has been made of Valentina Shevchenko’s globe-trotting lifestyle. When combined with her proficiency with firearms, martial arts background, and undeniable attractiveness, it has given rise to playful whispers about her being an international super spy or a candidate to turn up in a James Bond movie. This itinerant lifestyle is one that Shevchenko has been living for more than half of her life, and one that has shaped her into the woman that she is today.

“When you go from one place to another place, every time it changes the (surroundings, and changing that means you will face new challenges, and it teaches you so many things,” begins the two-time champion as she’s posted up in America’s Pacific Northwest.  “You’re learning about the world itself and how it works, what kind of person you have to be. I feel like many people who are spending a lot of time in one place, they might have the wrong perspective of the world. And they are less respectful to everything, to each other, to people, to nature. To everything. As soon as a person goes outside from their comfort zone, they’re faced with so many challenges, they’re learning so quickly how to be respectful to everything, including how to speak to each other.”

TRAVELING MASTER

She explains that seeing the way many younger people today speak to their elders, whether they’re familiar or strangers, irritates her because it deviates so far from the way she was raised. She offers a sample interaction, uttering the words, “Hey, Bro. Come here!” shaking her head the entire time, bothered by even mimicking the type of casual interactions that have become de rigueur in many pockets of society. Speaking to someone or about someone in that manner isn’t something that should be available to everyone, as far as she is concerned. It's something that has to be earned, with the dominant force likening it to newcomers and emerging competitors in MMA being too quick to pop off at the mouth about more established athletes.

“You have to earn those opportunities,” says Shevchenko, seated in the galley of the boat she’s currently living on, the other vessels in the marina visible through the large window behind her pitching to-and-fro with the ebb and flow of Puget Sound’s icy waters. “It’s the same as in the fighter’s world, when I see the young athletes and they come in, they’re feeling a little bit powerful, a little bit strong, and it’s ‘Doesn’t matter who is in front of me; I will treat them like whatever’ because trash talk is everything. No, it’s not like that. You have to have respect. Even in trash talk, there is a limit, and using the opportunity to make this hype for the fight, you cannot cross certain lines.” 

RESPECT THE GAME

She has a deep sense of respect that works in both directions.  

“If, for example, you’re facing a champion who has more experience, more years in martial arts, you just cannot say certain things,” smiles Schevchenko. “You have to have your brain working to find the way to promote the fight, to make your fame, to make your moment, but if you’re breaking all the rules, everyone will be looking at you like, ‘This person is really stupid!’”

She laughs, but the statement illustrates so much of how Shevchenko approaches martial arts and life in general. I mention that learning those lessons about how to speak to your elders and showing respect feels akin to learning how to deal with defeat because there is value in understanding those things sooner, rather than later. She agrees, and then unintentionally points out another piece of what makes her such a special individual in this sport.

“(The first loss) lands harder, yes, but if you have the right team who, no matter if you’re winning or whatever, they’re still saying, ‘Don’t go to the clouds. Don’t fly that high. Be grounded, and from the beginning, they are with you, saying things like ‘You are not a superstar,’ where they put you down to the Earth, it’s not affecting you that much. If everyone started to say, ‘Oh my god, you’re the best in the world; there is no one like you,’ everyone has the same nature where they will say, ‘I’m the best in the world; there is no one to compare with me.’”

A SENSE OF SELF

Shevchenko has never been one to present herself as anything more than a dedicated martial artist. Even though she is a two-time UFC champion, the longest reigning flyweight titleholder in the promotion’s history, and unquestionably one of the five best female fighters in the history of the sport, ‘Bullet’ has never been anything other than authentically herself. When I tell her it sounds like she’s just described herself and her team, asking where that humility originates from, she opens up in a way that she never has in the past.

“I feel that it comes from, I would say,” she begins, pausing to find the right words. “I was born in Kyrgyzstan. A very remote country in the mountains. It’s a small country. The path to where I am right now, the way I did, I would say not many people can imagine what we had to do to be in the place I am right now. And it’s not just myself, because it was my team, as you said. My coach, my sister, my mom. People who support each other, saying, ‘We’re gonna do this no matter what,’ because in these circumstances, many persons would give up and do different things in life.

“Because we had this strong martial arts connection and feeling this was the thing that I want to do, it was my guide, my light. For example, I feel that fighters who, fighters from United States, Canada, Europe, it’s easier to get into the UFC, the biggest promotion. Even from Brazil, it’s easier to get here.

“But where I came from, I had to, from 15 years old, I was already not living with my family. We’d already started to travel, competing in different competitions. I had to spend 10 years of my life living in South America, and then move to Thailand. I had to win 17-time world Muay Thai championship before I was signed into the UFC. Imagine if I was born somewhere closer. Definitely, I would be in the UFC way earlier, and who knows, maybe it would be completely different. It wouldn’t be 10 title defences, it would be even more. We don’t know because I had to do it the way I did, but it was, when I say ‘hard,’ I don’t want to say ‘hard’ personally for me. For me, it was interesting because I was living every single moment.”

MOVING FORWARD

As she traces her journey, I’m reminded of a previous conversation I had with her where I asked whether she ever took a moment to reflect on everything she’s accomplished. At the time, Shevchenko said she would only do so once she’s “done-done” (her words) because she’s still very much focused on continuing to compete. Now, against the backdrop of a lifelong journey that has carried her around the globe and brought with it not only martial arts success, but a fluency in Russian, Spanish, English, and Thai, I circle back to that same question. I wonder again if there are moments where she reflects on this 20-plus-year adventure and allows herself a moment to feel proud of all she’s done, or if that too will only come when she’s done-done?

“You’re very right: (I’ll never do it) before I’m done-done because you can never stop,” she answers with a laugh at my pulling out her wording from a previous conversation. “When you stop and start to reflect, this is the moment when you freeze, and this is what they say about a fighter has to learn all the time. About technique, about improvements in everything, and when they stop, it means they are kind of dead as a fighter. This is what I feel. Not about the fight, but in life in general. You have to go forward. You have to. While we’re living, while we’re breathing, we have to move forward, learn new things.”

A SMALL REFLECTION

But there is one point where she would be willing to soak it all in.

“I would say, the best moment to feel it, maybe, is if there is gonna be a movie based on the life or a documentary or whatever,” she offers. “Then, and only then, you can look back and actually see it not from your perspective, but from the side. This would be a cool moment, if some part of my career, some part of my life, after I’m done-done, there is something like that.”

Given all that she’s accomplished and the unique path she has travelled, it feels all but assured that there will be something of this nature put together whenever the day comes that she decides to be done-done. 

STILL EAGER TO CHALLENGE HERSELF

At UFC 306, Shevchenko reclaimed the UFC flyweight title with a win over Alexa Grasso, ending the trilogy between the two with a dominant victory that set things right in the division after their second meeting ended in an inexplicable draw. 

In May, she faced French contender Manon Fiorot, who had risen to challenge for the title by collecting seven straight victories to begin her UFC tenure. While close, Shevchenko came out ahead, earning a win to register the first successful title defense of her second stint as champion and the 10th title fight victory of her UFC career.

“It feels right, first of all, and it feels good to prove to all the person who say, ‘No, it’s not going to happen’ that no, you are wrong,” she says with a smirk when asked how it feels to be still perched atop the flyweight division after turning back yet another talented challenger. “It’s like how it is, and it will be like this; there is no other. People want to see other people down, no matter what, no matter how. I feel like it’s part of their nature. I see so many good champions and people where they’re wanting to see them lose. Not because they don’t like them, they just want it. But that doesn’t matter to me because I’m not too much reading comments or it being too much of an influence on myself what people say about me,” continues Shevchenko. “I know exactly who I am, I know exactly what I have to stay on top. I am so blessed and feel happy with the persons surrounding me: my team, my coach Pavel, all my teammates, all my training partners. I feel they’re special people for me, and every training camp that I’m doing, I try to have these good spirits, and if you’re surrounded by good people, it helps you, motivates you to give everything.”

MORE TO COME

Shevchenko remains motivated to take on the toughest challenges possible. Whenever a fighter reaches a level of distinction, we wonder (and ask) how much longer they will continue to compete. 

“This is my least favorite question of all time,” she says, playfully shaking her head in disappointment that I broached the subject. “I feel that I hear many persons are trying to repeat this question, ‘Where is the end? When is the end?’ And I hear it to a fighter who just became a champion, maybe had one defense, and media already starts to ask, ‘When are you done?’ But how the brain is working is that you have this question one time and you can get rid of it, but when you have it all the time, it slowly gets into your head and it’s in there, starting to eat your brain from the inside. I feel many fighters could have longer careers, more successful careers, but with those (thoughts) in the back of their head, they decide, ‘I’m done. I quit. I don’t want to do that anymore’ and it’s not right because with the right lifestyle, with the right approach to your training, you can prolong your fighter life as long as you wish.”

NEVER-ENDING QUEST TO BE BETTER

Even though she’s closing in on 100 combined combat sports appearances, not counting any unrecorded bouts, Shevchenko has no plans on walking away.

"Being the fighter I am, in my entire career, there has never been any single moment where I was like, ‘I want to fight this fighter,’ I want to do that fight next,” begins Shevchenko. “Every time, no matter what challenge is going to be in front of me, I will do that. The more challenges, the better for me. I will put more into the preparation because this is my nature. It’s why I am the way I am. What I would like is to keep going, something new. Do what I like in martial arts, breaking these challenges in front of me, and I know the UFC will do the best in terms of what is next. Every time they are coming with any suggestions, opponents, there was not one time I said, ‘No.’ Every time it was ‘Yes, let’s do that.’ I’m open. I’m open to any challenge, whoever it’s going to be next fight.”

WATCHING OTHERS

For now, she’s focused on letting things play out between current champ Kayla Harrison and returning Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes, then facing one of two potential opponents in a bout for her flyweight title.

“It’s possible,” she starts when asked about venturing back up to the 135-pound ranks. “But I feel that right now, it’s less opportunity for the next fight because what I feel is that it’s gonna be another fight as Amanda is back, so they’re gonna do Amanda with Kayla, and it will take time for all the doping control and everything Amanda has to pass now, so it’s not for like six months or so. But after that, who knows? Everything is possible. For now, I would say more we are talking about two names; it’s three names in total, but for now, it’s two.”

Those two names are Zhang Weili and Natalia Silva. When asked if she has a preference between the two possible opponents, Shevchenko turns the answer into a comment on what she believes the fans and the promotion would prefer instead.

“I feel that in terms of what fans want to see and if you’re speaking about martial arts in general, Weili deserves this fight more because she is a great athlete. She’s had all the years of success. Losing the belt. Getting it back. She’s a very good fighter, and not from my perspective, but from the promotion and fans' perspective, they might want to see this fight more.”

And when could we possibly see her back in action?

“I would say the end of the year would be a good time,” says Shevchenko. “I’ve started to get back into pre-fight shape, so some time before the end of the year would be good timing.”

SELF FOCUSSED

The chance to compete in such a monumental matchup, against someone as accomplished as Zhang, and potentially defeat a fellow two-time UFC titleholder would be the kind of thing Shevchenko would take a moment to take pride in should it come to pass, right? Of course not.

“When I’m preparing for my fight, I’m not looking at my next opponent as their champion status or accomplishment status or whatever,” she says, once again making it clear that she has no interest in reflecting on accolades. “Every time, I’m looking (at them) as a fighter first of all, because you can face a person with no name, but a lot of potential, and if you don’t see that, it can be a very big mistake of how you take the fight. That’s why you have to know all the small things around, but very first, define the technique, strategy, power, and character. It’s very important. If you see the character of a person, you know how difficult or easy it is to break that person. Sometimes, a fighter with a strong character, no matter how difficult a situation is for them in a fight, they are unbreakable. They keep standing up and moving forward. But some fighters, they are easy to break; they feel like, ‘There is no chance,’ and poof, they are done-done. ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. No more for me.’”

She chuckles before continuing.

“You have to know your opponent very well, definitely when we’re speaking about fighters who are champions like Weili and other fighters I have faced, other top fighters in UFC, because they don’t have this mindset. They don’t break that easily because if they did, they wouldn’t be champions or top contenders. You have to know the strategy, technique, and tactics. This is what I rely on.”

When you listen to her speak this way - focused, driven, emotionless -it’s easy to understand why folks are quick to cast Shevchenko as a gun-toting, ass-kicking femme fatale, in real life or in the next summer blockbuster.

But the thing that isn’t said as often as it should is that this is why she’s unquestionably one of the greatest female fighters in the history of this sport and destined for a place in the UFC Hall of Fame. She has been a martial artist since she was five years old. She was a contender the first night she stepped into the Octagon and has spent the last seven-plus years competing exclusively in championship fights. No one else on the UFC roster can lay claim to such accomplishments, not that the reigning flyweight champion will do so either, because she’s too busy living, training, and learning. After all, she’s nowhere close to being ‘done-done’ yet.