Many people who question the match making of UFC should keep in mind that prior to offering the fight to Priscilla, Invicta flyweight champion Jenifer Maia refused to fight Valentina. We all know Vanzant refused as well. When big names turn down the offer and it ends up going to small names you cant charge the match makers with conspiring to make Valentina look like a killer. After so many refusals the UFC has to look into the lower budget / local organizations. They found an undefeated, 8-0 Priscila with 50% of her wins coming by knockout. That is an impressive record at the local level, and when you consider that she is a training partner of Jessica Andrede it's a bit unfair not to consider her competitive, regardless of how un-polished her style looks. Many fighters with power don't need to frame it in a beautiful fashion to be effective. The match making was as good as the UFC could make it seeing as how other names wanted no part of Bullet at 125. After last nights performance perhaps we can see why. Truth is that over 50% of the 125 division may be a mismatch for Bullet.
The thought of Nicco watching this fight and feeling confident about a victory over Shevchenko sounds far fetched. If Nicco is like the rest of us she is a bit speechless at the level of danger Valentina presents. I made a pre-fight prediction where I wrote about Valentina eventually losing patience with the amateur style of Priscilla and deciding to press the issue. Well, there was no eventually. From the opening bell Valentina proceeded to provide viewers with a mixed martial arts horror movie.
The beating administered was brutal and difficult for most people to watch. While people wonder why the ref didn't stop the fight sooner we must also wonder why Priscila's corner did not pull their fighter out of the fight as well. The reason should be obvious. Typical of Brazilian fighters, Priscila is one tough girl and she continued to try and fight back. She is in her home country and I'm sure neither the ref nor Priscila's corner wanted to be charged with stopping the fight unless she was completely neutralized.
Not only does Valentina already look like the champion of this division, she looks like a frightening champion. Move over Joanna.. the real boogie woman has arrived. Anything can happen in a fight but it's hard to envision anybody beating Bullet at 125. This is a lifelong student and master craftswoman in her absolute MMA prime. A veteran who is only 29 years old. Enjoy watching her journey because she is a rare fighter that only comes around once per generation. This is mastery on the same level as any historical MMA fighter you can name. May the future refs have mercy on the souls of her future opponents.
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