At 36 years old, Valentina Shevchenko has fairly established herself among the greats of WMMA. However, her journey to the top wasn’t as smooth as some other highly decorated legends have had. Not everybody had it like Khabib Nurmagomedov, who signed off with a 29-0 record, and ‘Bullet’ is just one of those fighters, who could not avoid a few blemishes in her record.

It’s been a minute and we finally have a trilogy fight between Valentina Shevchenko and, perhaps her biggest rival, flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. It’s a significant fight for the Kyrgyz star because a loss would probably push her down the pecking order in the division. But while that loss is preventable since we’re yet to get to that Sphere PPV, let’s take a look at the losses that Shevchenko could not prevent from adding to her UFC record.

How many times has Valentina Shevchenko? Amanda Nunes, Alexa Grasso, and other UFC losses

Did you know Valentina Shevchenko started her UFC career as a bantamweight? Yes, she did and without a doubt, took the fight against notable former champions like Julianna Pena and Holly Holm before everything came crashing down when she stood opposite Amanda Nunes for the first time. As we all know, ‘The Lioness’ is arguably the greatest female fighter that this sport has ever seen and she proved that to ‘Bullet’ on two separate occasions.

The first time Valentina Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes locked horns was at UFC 196, which was headlined by the iconic bout between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor. The Kyrgyz star fought valiantly but failed to get the better of the former double champion and succumbed to a decision loss. Then again, Shevchenko would get the same result when she fought Nunes for a second time, but this time the bantamweight title was up for grabs.

The second fight turned out to be closer than the previous one as Amanda Nunes just edged past Valentina Shevchenko after the judges favored her with a split decision victory. This loss was enough to ignite the fire within ‘Bullet’, who would go on to secure a 9-fight winning streak in the flyweight division following her second UFC loss, winning the title in the process.

Shevchenko would defend her title seven times, which is a record in the UFC, before butting heads with Alexa Grasso at UFC 285. The Mexican star would tap ‘Bullet’ out to win the flyweight strap and has since been the queen of the 125’ers. Hence, there are only three losses in Shevchenko’s UFC career, but had she lost before she came into the UFC? Well, unfortunately, she has.

Has Shevchenko lost outside the UFC?

Valentina Shevchenko has been fighting for well over two decades. While her early career was mostly her venture in kickboxing, she did manage to rack up a 7-fight winning streak in MMA from the day she debuted before she faced her first and only MMA loss before coming into the UFC. Interestingly, Shevchenko’s first MMA loss came against a former UFC and current Bellator fighter, Liz Carmouche.

Shevchenko and Carmouche battled each other in 2010 at C3 Fights: Red River Rivalry, where the latter handed the Ukrainian star her first TKO loss. But that did not deter the former UFC champion as that loss was her only defeat via knockout in her entire career so far. Could she get knocked out by Alexa Grasso on September 14th? Well, we don’t know that, but it’s a thought-provoking matter since the only other loss by a finish was handed to Shevchenko by Grasso.

What are your thoughts on Valentina Shevchenko’s losses? Do you think she can avoid one in her upcoming UFC 306 bout? Drop your comments below.