Chael Sonnen: Valentina Shevchenko missed mark by not mentioning Manon Fiorot after UFC 306 title win

09/19/2024 02:00 PM

Chael Sonnen thinks Valentina Shevchenko made a mistake by not acknowledging Manon Fiorot after UFC 306.

Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) regained her flyweight title with a dominant decision win over Alexa Grasso (16-4-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at Sphere in Las Vegas. Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) weighed in as a backup for the fight, but her services weren’t needed. Although Shevchenko dismissed a fourth fight with Grasso next, Sonnen would have liked to see her address Fiorot.

“Can I tell you what one of my least favorite parts (of UFC 306) was? It’s very simple,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” alongside Daniel Cormier. “There was an alternate that flew in and weighed in in case anything happened with the Grasso-Shevchenko fight, Fiorot. At a minimum, it would have been nice if Valentina mentioned her. I feel like it’s clear that Fiorot is next. She was almost that night. And after the fight, Valentina went in a different direction. She wanted to thank Hunter Campbell and Dana White as opposed to call out an opponent.

“You were a main event here at this very event one year ago against the same opponent for the same title then they have demoted you to a co-main event. At some point you’ve got to wake up. The crowd wasn’t thrilled with this match. If they were to do it again next year, it’s going to come lower and lower. I felt for Fiorot. To come over there, get licensed, go through all the medicals, go through the training camp, the weight cut, and there’s no opportunity, which means there’s not a very big check to split up with your team. At a minimum, you could have had a callout. On a human level, to a degree, it bothered me.”

Unbeaten in the octagon, Fiorot cemented herself as No. 1 contender after a main event win over Erin Blanchfield at UFC on ESPN 54 in March.