UFC 315 Co-Main Event Preview and Prediction: Valentina Shevchenko – Manon Fiorot

Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC 315, the women’s flyweight title is on the line. The champion Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1) officially begins her second reign as champion as she takes on number one contender Manon Fiorot (12-1).

Starting with Fiorot, she’s had a stellar run inside the octagon. After losing her professional debut, Fiorot was brought to the UFC back in 2021 with a 5-1 record. Since then, she’s gone an impressive 7-0 with wins over the likes of Rose Namajunas, Katlyn Cerminara, Tabatha Ricci, and Mayra Bueno Silva. Last March, she dominated Erin Blanchfield to earn this shot at the champion.

For Shevchenko, this will be her first fight not against Alexa Grasso since 2022. In March 2023, Shevchenko was going for her eighth title defense against Grasso and got caught in a submission and shockingly lost the title. After the two fought to a draw in their rematch, Shevchenko completely dominated the trilogy bout at Noche UFC last September and now she’ll look to defend her title against Fiorot tomorrow night.

UFC 315 Prediction

Shockingly, Valentina Shevchenko enters the octagon tomorrow night as the betting underdog. Maybe some folks aren’t surprised given how she’s looked in recent years compared to Fiorot, but we are still talking about a woman who has essentially dominated this division for the better part of seven years.

Yes, Manon Fiorot is undefeated in the UFC. Yes, she’s the bigger fighter, but let’s not forget that Valentina Shevchenko took Amanda Nunes the distance in both of their fights with many thinking she won those fights against the greatest of all time. I think too many people are writing off Shevchenko in this one.

Fiorot has incredible striking and against Blanchfield, she showed tremendous grappling strength. However, it’s easy to prepare for the grappling against Blanchfield because her striking is not good at all. Shevchenko has tremendous striking and she’s very fast. Her ability to mix things up is not going to allow Fiorot to be fully prepared for the grappling exchanges.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see Fiorot pick up the decision win because of her striking skills and strength, but I’m riding with the proven product here and I think Valentina Shevchenko retains at UFC 315.

Prediction: Valentina Shevchenko by Decision