RIO DE JANEIRO – Lauren Murphy thinks the idea of beating Valentina Shevchenko isn’t as inconceivable as it once was.
Murphy (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC), who returns to action against Jessica Andrade (23-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC) in a key women’s flyweight bout on Saturday at UFC 283, already had her crack at dominant divisional titleholder Shevchenko (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC), but to no avail.
Shevchenko earned a fourth-round TKO over Murphy at UFC 266 in September 2021, but in her next fight nearly lost the belt. She edged out a split decision over Taila Santos at UFC 275 in June 2022 and went down to the wire in a bout many fans, fighters and media think she lost.
