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Michelle Waterson-Gomez thinks it was a bad idea for Manon Fiorot to fuel the fire underneath Valentina Shevchenko going into UFC 315.
In her pursuit to secure Saturday’s women’s flyweight title shot against Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) at Bell Centre in Montreal (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), the streaking Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) claimed she would retire from MMA if she falls short of gold, and that the champion isn’t the dominant force she used to be.
Shevchenko told MMA Junkie she expects Fiorot to honor those words if she fails this weekend, and intends to make it definitive. For UFC analyst Waterson-Gomez, seeing that extra edge around Shevchenko is a promising sign going into the fight.
“I think Shevchenko is going to secure the win,” Waterson-Gomez told MMA Junkie. “I think Shevchenko is a little more well-rounded when it comes to MMA, and super heavy top pressure. If she has to she’ll get it there. And I do think that she’s motivated because she thinks Manon is like insincere about where she sits in terms of the type of fighter she is. She doesn’t know if she’s a respectful fighter or she’s a talking sh*t kind of fighter, so I do think it kind of pisses Shevchenko off a little bit.”
Fiorot enters UFC 315 as the betting favorite, marking the first time Shevchenko has been the underdog entering a fight as titleholder.
Despite that, Waterson-Gomez said she still sees Shevchenko as holding the upper hand, and would be somewhat surprised if Fiorot walked away with the gold.
“I don’t think I’ve seen enough of Manon to think she’s the biggest threat,” Waterson-Gomez said. “Shevchenko has been up against the best of the best in the entire division, and up a weight class. I think the biggest threat Manon has to offer is her speed. Her speed and her youth. She’s fast, but it’s not like Shevchenko hasn’t been up against girls that are fast.”
To hear more from Waterson-Gomez, check out her complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
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