Valentina Shevchenko’s next title defense is now confirmed for the spring.
Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the reigning women’s flyweight champion will take on former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 261 on April 24th.
Shevchenko (20-3) is a perfect 6-0 in her division, with only two rounds lost out of 22. One of those rounds came in her last fight against Jennifer Maia, who put up a good effort but otherwise still clearly lost 49-46 across the board back at UFC 255 in November. Shevchenko won the vacant championship against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2018 and her run of dominance has also included last year’s TKO of Katlyn Chookagian and that spectacular head kick KO of Jessica Eye in 2019.