UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko was scheduled to defend her title against Joanna Calderwood in the co-main event of UFC 251, but the champ was forced to withdrawal from the contest due to injury.
The UFC is currently in the midst of building a “Fight Island,” which is a place that Shevchenko wants to both live and train at.
“It’s such a great idea, from the first second I heard about it I was like, ‘I would definitely be there,’” Shevchenko said on the Eurobash podcast (via Peter Carroll of MMA Fighting). “I want to fight on the island, I want to train there...I want to live there! I want to spend my time there, definitely. I love to do my training camps in places that are more suited for the climate and if I have to fight on the island, why can I not train there? It would probably be great to have a training camp there and then fight there...and then stay a little bit of extra time after to recover. How does that sound? For me, it sounds great!”
“Fight Island” is going to be ready in approximately one month, but little is known about the living quarters or training centers on the island.
Shevchenko withdrew from UFC 251 due to injury, but the champion should be ready to fight again around August.
“This is what the doctors told me, the end of August, and I’ll probably have to rush things a little bit for that [to happen] at the end of August. I think that’s a real date for my return, it’s just that I have to work a lot,” says Shevchenko.
With the UFC forced to cancel/postpone multiple events due to the coronavirus, it is highly likely that Shevchenko and a bunch of the UFC’s other champions will make a title defense on the “Fight Island.”
