Valentina Shevchenko Beats Manon Fiorot By Unanimous Decision At UFC 315

Valentina Shevchenko held her onto her title with a unanimous decision victory over Manon Fiorot tonight in the co-main event of UFC 315, but despite having some big moments during the fight she didn’t have it all her own way.

Round One

Fiorot feels out with an early head kick attempt. Jab lands for Shevchenko. Fiorot steps in and eats a big right hand from Shevchenko.

Glancing right hook from Fiorot in close. Now a low kick for her. Punch lands for Shevchenko. Head kick attempt again from Fiorot.

Body kick for Fiorot. She lands another. Nicely timed counter right lands cleanly for Shevchenko. Spinning body kick attempt from Shevchenko grazes the targets. Side kick to the body from Fiorot.

Step-in right hand from Fiorot but Shevchenko lands too with a counter hook and Fiorot’s nose is now pouring blood.

Now Shevchenko is able to land a nice takedown. The champ is in a half-guard and working some light punches to the body. She’s not expending too much energy here, happy to settle for controlling on top, while Fiorot isn’t doing anything to improve her position.

Round Two

Fiorot looking for a takedown here, but Shevchenko stays upright and lands knees to the body as Fiorot presses her into the cage.

Shevchenko able to break free to return to striking range. Head kick attempt from Fiorot is blocked. Spinning kick to the body from Shevchenko. Oblique kick from Fiorot.

Fiorot clinches up, but Shevchenko trips her to the mat. Fiorot does well to follow the momentum through to get back to her feet though.

Shevchenko in on a takedown again now and Fiorot does very well to stays upright there. Fiorot with a head kick attempt that’s blocked. Now the challenger tries to work for a takedown of her own against the cage. She shunts around to the back as Shevchenko is facing the cage. Knees to the back of the leg from Fiorot. Elbow from Fiorot, but Shevchenko gets free.

Missed right hand from Shevchenko as Fiorot drives in for a takedown again and is able to land it against the cage. Punches to the body for Fiorot as Shevchenko is sat with her back to the cage.

Shevchenko looking to stand and Fiorot landed an illegal knee there that the ref didn’t see, but Shevchenko managed to block it and is ok.

Round Three

Body kick for Shevchenko. Fiorot comes up short with a head kick attempt. She tries for it again, but only grazes the target.

Inside leg kick for Shevchenko. She almost ducked into a head kick, but stopped herself in time. Clinch from Shevchenko and Fiorot lands an elbow as she backs out.

Shevchenko scurries away and resets as Fiorot was coming forward. Punch lands for Shevchenko. Another clinch and Fiorot lands a couple of solid knees to the body. And other lands and then she back away.

Leg kick for Shevchenko. Outside leg kick from Shevchenko. She lands a knee, but Fiorot clinches up and presses her into the cage. Knee to the thigh from Fiorot. Shechenko pushes her away and lands a body kick.

Jabs exchanged. Spinning backfist lands from Shevchenko, but Fiorot counters with a takedown attempt up against the cage. Shevchenko does well to prevent that. Fiorot around to the back again. She tries to drag her down, but nothing doing. Fiorot resets and tries again to bring her down without success. Shevchenko punches her way out of the clinch before the horn.

Round Four

Inside leg kick for Fiorot. Shevchenko lands one of her own. Double jab for Shevchenko. Spinning attack from Shevchenko as Fiorot went for a head kick attempt.

Body kick for Fiorot. Shevchenko presses forward with punches, but Fiorot opts to clinch up and move over to the cage. Knees to the thigh from her.

Shevchenko able to battle out of the clinch. Inside leg kick for Shevchenko. Shevchenko tries to go for a single-leg, but Fiorot dismisses that quickly.

Nice spinning body kick from Shevchenko. Light one-two from Fiorot as she gets back into the clinch against the cage. Shevchenko turns and breaks out of the clinch.

Shevchenko backs off as Fiorot surged forward with punches. Now Shevchenko lands a good takedown, but Fiorot is quickly back up and pressing the champ into the cage from the clinch.

Shevchenko breaks free under fire and lands a punch of her own. Side kick to the body from Fiorot. Missed spinning backfist from her.

Counter-right hands from Shevchenko late in the round drops Fiorot, but there’s only a few seconds of the round remaining so she survives!

Round Five

Jab for Fiorot. Body kick from Shevchenko. Shevchenko circling now. Fiorot clinches and they trade knees to the body. Fiorot pressing Shevchenko into the cage. She lands an elbow as she backs off.

Fiorot attempts a kick and Shevchenko fires off a couple of punches. Shevchenko thought about a takedown, but nothing doing.

Shevchenko back to circling. Kick to the body from Fiorot. Spinning backfist attempt from Shevchenko grazes the target. Fiorot clinches up against the cage.

Fiorot back up and Shevchenko lands a kick to the thigh as she does so. Superman punch from Shevchenko. Shevchenko tries for a takedown, but Fiorot turns her into the cage as she clinches up.

They don’t remain in the clinch for long. Missed high kick from Fiorot. She tries another kick and Shevchenko pumps out her right hand. Fiorot punches her way into the clinch. Light punches to the body from the champ and a few knees to the thigh from Fiorot.

Fiorot works around to the back. Shevchenko turns back into her and narrowly avoids a head kick attempt from Fiorot.

FIorot pressing forward. Shevchenko with a spinning attack. They clinch up and Fiorot lands a nice elbow. And that’s it, we’re headed to the scorecards.

Decision

A closely contested fight here, with Shevchenko having the bigger moments, bloodying Fiorot’s nose in the opening round and dropping her with a counter-right at the end of the fourth round, but the challenger also being very competitive from start to finish. In the end it’s Shevchenko who has done enough to retain her title though, winning by unanimous decision (48-47 x3).