Liz Carmouche Wants A Rubber Match With Valentina Shevchenko
A defeated Carmouche would like a third fight with Shevchenko, as their current series is tied at one win apiece.
“Absolutely, especially after this evening,” Carmouche said at the post-fight press conference (via Alexander K. Lee of MMA Fighting). “I think after the first fight there were so many things that when we first fought, I was still new to fighting, she had tons of experience. But after seeing her hesitance and her caution tonight and her not execute her usual game plan and not have that cutthroat killer instinct that everybody knows, but actually be hesitant? That’s not something we’ve seen her do before, so I’d absolutely do it again and do things differently and actually take that belt from her.”
Carmouche and Shevchenko met for the first time at C3 Fights: Red River Rivalry in October of 2010, with Carmouche scoring a second round TKO win on that night.
The fighter doesn’t know if she has another run for a future title shot in the tank, but Carmouche knows that moving forward is the way to go.
“Of course that’s always in the back of my mind,” Carmouche said. “Even after the first time I fought [for the bantamweight title against Ronda Rousey at UFC 157] I wondered if I’d have another opportunity to fight again. And even after this one, I just hope that I can make all the efforts needed and just keep making the improvements that I have been and anticipate another championship opportunity.”
It is unknown if another title shot will come Carmouche’s way, but the fighter is still ranked #3 in the UFC Women’s Flyweight Division.
