UFC 231 Results: Valentina Shevchenko Bullies Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Takes Flyweight Belt

Turns out moving up a weight class wasn’t a good idea for former strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk. On the flipside, moving down from bantamweight to fight Jedrzejczyk was the best move Valentina Shevchenko could make. Because after five rounds of bullying the smaller girl around, Shevchenko is now the UFC’s female flyweight champion.

There’s no questioning Jedrzejczyk’s skill and ability. She was the best among the 115-pounders, and with her deadly kickboxing and aggression, was long considered the fiercest of the bunch.

But Shevchenko was a top contender at bantamweight, and lost only twice in the Octagon – both times to champ Amanda Nunes, with the last go-around really, really close.

So of course she kicked Jedrzejczyk’s butt. When she wasn’t walking through Jedrzejczyk’s kicks and punches to land some of her own, she was hoisting her up and slamming her.

For her part, Jedrzejczyk never withered, and got a few good licks in here and there. But she was simply too small, and when two fighters are evenly matched in terms of skills, that size makes all the difference.

So finally, Shevchenko has a belt, and a division she gets to rule over. Jedrzejczyk, meanwhile, has to ponder if flyweight is her home or the merits of going back to strawweight.