Women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchnko (18-3, 5 KOs, 7 SUBs) will defend her title against Katlyn Chookagian (13-2, 2 KOs, 1 SUB) at UFC 247 on Saturday, February 8, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The main card airs live on pay-per-view starting 10pm ET.
There is no other UFC champion that’s as far ahead of their division as Valentina Shevchnenko and the women’s 125-pound class. (That’s because 1she’s a legit monster and 2) the weight class is paper thin. This Saturday, “Bullet” gets a chance to widen the chasm between her and the pack when she meets No. 1 contender Katlyn Chookagian in the co-main event of UFC 247.
Ever since the women’s flyweight division was incepted, the MMA world assumed that Shevchenko - formerly a bantamweight contender - would be its queen. That assumption proved right when she won the vacant title against former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Since then, she’s dominated Jessica Eye and Liz Carmouche in two defenses - neither fight was remotely competitive.
Perhaps Chookagian will have more success. The 31-year old comes into the matchup on a two-fight win streak, beating JoJo Calderwood and Jennifer Maia. With a 13-2 record, “The Blonde Fighter” has earned good wins over Irene Aldana, Aexis Davis and Sijara Eubanks. While she’s not what many would consider a championship contender, she’s a warm body on a winning streak - and the UFC needs their champions to stay busy.
The UFC odds at BookMaker.eu are unsurprisingly lopsided: Shevchenko opened as a whopping -1000 favorite, with Chookagian at +585 on the comeback. Those are the types of prices we’d see for fighters like Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson at the peak of their powers. Let’s take a look at the online sportsbook and dive into your best betting options. Live UFC betting is available during the fight as well.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Valentina Shevchenko -1400
Katlyn Chookagian +760
FIght goes/doesn’t go to decision: -175 / +135
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Shevchenko 3.02 / Chookagian 4.28
Striking accuracy: Shevchenko 49% / Chookagian 32%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Shevchenko 2.16 / Chookagian 4.68
Striking defense: Shevchenko 62% / Chookagian 62%
Grappling Stats
Takedowns per 15 minutes: Shevchenko 1.94 / Chookagian 0
Takedown accuracy: Shevchenko 51% / Chookagian N/A
Takedown defense: Shevchenko 77% / Chookagian 56%
Submissions per 15 minutes: Shevchenko 0.39 / Chookagian 0.14
Bet this UFC fight at the online sportsbook
For all intents and purposes, this seems nothing more than showcase fight for Shevchenko. After all, she was the No. 1 contender at bantamweight, and the only fighter to give WMMA GOAT a real challenge - many believe she won their rematch. Naturally, if Shevchenko fell just shy of the best woman fighter in the world in a heavier weight class, she’d blast through a lighter weight class still trying to find quality fighters.
Chookagian might be the No. 1 contender, but she’s so far off the radar that she was fighting on the ESPN+ prelims in her last outing. That’s the streaming prelims before the ESPN network prelims before the pay-per-view - with maybe a couple hundred fans in the audience. While Chookagian isn’t the most exciting fighter, she is an effective one - taking a high output, low power striking game. Her disciplined, measured approach is usually good enough to flummox the swarmers that populate the women’s divisions, but her lack of athleticism puts a hard ceiling on her game.
Shevchenko is a Muay Thai specialist, preferring to counterstrike and beat opponents to the punch. She is both a powerful fighter and a solid athlete, further boosting elite technical skills. More recently, the 31-year old has been much more willing to showcase her grappling, and it’s been particularly effective at 125 pounds.
UFC Odds Pick: Parlay Shevchenko to win
UFC Odds Pick: Shevchenko to win inside the distance +145
Admittedly, Shevchenko’s straight up win price won’t do much for you even as a parlay. Perhaps the prop that she wins inside the distance could be a much better value. Though Shevchenko is a naturally conservative fighter, she has alternated between finishes and decisions for her past four fights, and is in line for a finish should she keep up with the pattern. The finish should be there for Bullet should she really try for it.
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