Background and career
Valentina Anatolyevna Shevchenko (Russian: Валентина Анатольевна Шевченко; born March 7, 1988) is a Kyrgyz and Peruvian professional mixed martial artist, former Muay Thai fighter, and kickboxer, with the rare distinction of having won professional championships in all three sports. She currently competes in the women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the former two-time UFC Women's Flyweight Champion and the first Kyrgyz fighter to win a UFC championship. As of September 17, 2024, she is #1 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings and as of October 3, 2026, she is #1 in the Meta UFC women's flyweight rankings. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest female mixed martial artists of all time.
