Amanda Nunes Retains Title At UFC 215 But It Was A Close Thing, Was Valentina Shevchenko Robbed?
UFC 215 has been and gone and Amanda Nunes has retained her bantamweight title by beating her rival Valentina Shevchenko in the night’s top fight. Nunes won the fight with a split decision and as reported by ESPN, the margin of victory was paper thin. Two judges called the fight 48-47 for Nunes, whilst the third had Shevchenko winning by the same margin. As is normally the case when a fight is so close, not everyone agrees that Nunes won the fight, and as reported by MMA Fighting many in the crowd thought that Shevchenko was robbed. The official result was met by a chorus of boos from the crowd in Edmonton, Alberta.
Shevchenko clearly believed that she had won the fight, and was enraged when the result was announced, but in truth, neither fighter can have any complaints about the result of what was a very close fight. Nunes, however, was happy with the result and pointed to two late takedowns as the key to her victory.
“I made sure I was sharp everywhere. I learned that at the end of the round is when she is getting tired, not me. I decided with my coach that at the end of the round, take her down. That’s what happened tonight.”
Shevchenko’s view was very different and she claimed that Nunes barely laid a glove on her during any of the five rounds.
“For two takedowns? All five rounds? She didn’t hit me. Look at her face. I really don’t understand. Even when I was on the ground, I hit very hard from the ground position. I really don’t understand why [I lost].”
In the post match press conference, Shevchenko suggested that she would look into the possibility of appealing the contentious decision. According to the L.A. Times, Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko was an incredibly close match and memorable only for the fact that neither fighter took any risks.
They claim that Shevchenko did land more strikes than Nunes, but that the lack of ambition shown by both fighters means that neither has a right to complain about the result. That view was shared by MMA fighter Derek Brunson who took to Twitter to say that whilst it was a close fight he didn’t agree with the result.
Don't agree with that one! But definitely a close one #UFC215
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) September 10, 2017
Ian McCall, another MMA fighter used social media to say that Shevchenko was “so p****d” that the WWE should sign her to cut promos.
Wow. Valentina is pissed. #WWE needs to sign her and let her cuts promos. #UFC215
— Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) September 10, 2017
[Featured Image by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images]
