UFC woman’s bantamweight fighter Valentina Shevchenko has spoke out for the first time after she and her coach Pavel Fedotov were caught in the middle of an armed robbery shootout in Peru at the weekend.
Shevchenko’s coach Fedotov, who’s married to her sister, had opened fire on the three gunmen in self-defense after encountering them trying to rob a restaurant and steal from it’s customers on Sunday night.
Fedotov killed one of the robbers during the gun battle, but was also shot in the stomach, but Shevchenko says he’s now recovering in hospital.
The 28 year-old Shevchenko, who’s lived in Peru since 2008, is currently scheduled to fight Holly Holm in the main event of UFC On FOX 20 on July 23rd.
Read Shevchenko’s full statement below.
“Thank you so much dear friends for all the moral support in this very hard time that I and my family are going through!
On Sunday my coach master Pavel risked his life to defend me and the people that I was having dinner at the local restaurant.
I was at the back of the restaurant, and I’ve seen how the thieves went from table to table hitting the diners and snatching their belongings without anyone being able to help them. When they were getting closer towards our table, Pavel acted very determined and bravely.
If criminals would have found the gun he was carrying they would have thought that he was a cop, and very likely that they would have killed him with his own gun.
The Act of Pavel was not only in self-defense, but also the defense of my life and also of the people who were by my side!
Now Pavel is recovering thanks to God!”
