In his start-of-year predictions Daniel Cormier has made a bold claim that flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko will become a double-champ in 2022.
In previous years that would have seemed like a tall order given that former dominant bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes already holds two wins over Shevchenko in the division, but with ‘The Lioness’ having now been dethroned, Cormier now sees a path open for Shevchenko to seize the belt.
Some would rightly point out that Nunes is expected to get an immediate title rematch against the division’s new champion Julianna Pena first, but that ties into the second part of Cormier’s prediction – that Nunes will lose to her again.
“Not only do I not believe that Amanda is going to win that belt back, I believe that Valentina is going to win that belt and become the double-champion in 2022,” Cormier stated on his DC & RC podcast for ESPN.
There is evidence to back up Cormier’s theory as Pena did win surprisingly convincingly against Nunes in their first encounter, and meanwhile Shevchenko already holds a 2017 submission win over Pena and has already beaten a whose who of flyweight title contenders, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this could play out that way.
Nevertheless, many people expect to see a more focused and prepared version of Nunes to show up the next time she fights Pena, so DC’s prediction could easily fall flat on it’s face at the first hurdle.
