Valentina Shevchenko responds after Khabib’s ‘women are weak’ claim
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s recent comments about women’s MMA haven’t gone down well with one of the sport’s biggest names. Nurmagomedov, who retired from the sport in 2020 after defeating Justin Gaethje, has stayed involved in the fight game through coaching and mentoring younger fighters from Dagestan.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Khabib Nurmagomedov’s recent comments about women’s MMA haven’t gone down well with one of the sport’s biggest names. Nurmagomedov, who retired from the sport in 2020 after defeating Justin Gaethje, has stayed involved in the fight game through coaching and mentoring younger fighters from Dagestan. His latest remarks came during an appearance on the ‘Pound for Pound’ podcast with Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman.
The former UFC lightweight champion didn’t hold back his views on women’s MMA. And it didn’t take long for some strong responses to come in, including one from a two-division PFL champion who holds title belts across three different weight classes. Valentina Shevchenko hits back at Khabib Nurmagomedov’s comment about women being too ‘weak’ for MMA Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Speaking at a press conference in Phuket, Thailand, organised by Sun Hills Development, Nurmagomedov described women as “weak” while explaining his opposition to their involvement in MMA.
It wasn’t the first time he’d expressed those views either. Throughout his career, he’s made similar remarks and has faced criticism from various corners of the sport. One of those voices has been Valentina Shevchenko.
‘Bullet’ didn’t hold back this time either, taking to social media to challenge him once again. Shevchenko is widely considered one of the best female fighters ever, holding the UFC flyweight title with seven successful defences under her belt. She lost her belt to Alexa Grasso but regained it against Erin Blanchfield last year and has since defended it twice.