A perfect 3-0 UFC record is exactly what Erin Blanchfield expected, but that’s nowhere near the heights she eventually plans to reach.
The 23-year-old flyweight has quickly become one of the most talked about prospects in the sport. This past weekend at UFC Vegas 56, she added to her resume with a standing guillotine choke of J.J. Aldrich.
Being called the future division might sound like a lot of pressure for a young fighter. Blachfield is open to these expectations, as it’s not different from what she desires for herself.
“It’s pretty much everything that I expected,” Blanchfield stated Monday on The MMA Hour . “I went pro at 18, so I expected to get into the UFC pretty young. High expectations have been set for me. Getting those two first wins were nice, but I really wanted that finish. I was super happy to get that finish on Saturday.
” I know that I can do this, but I don’t think I would have done it if I wasn’t confident I’d be a champion at some point. While I want to continue learning and improving, I am certain that I will have the strap .”
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Slow and steady doesn’t seem to be the approach Blanchfield is taking. But she’s also realistic about the time it will take her to get into title contention. The New Jersey native knows there’s still a lot of work to do before she’s calling out reigning flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.
“I could see it happening within the next two or three years,” Blanchfield said. “I feel like that would be the soonest, but I’m not too stressed about it. It’ll happen if I continue to win, fight and stay healthy. If I keep winning like this, it will probably be in the next two to three years .”
At UFC 275, Shevchenko looks make her seventh consecutive defense at flyweight when she faces Taila Santos in the pay-per-view event’s co-headliner. Blachfield concurs with the odds that Shevchenko will win.
“Santos She’s tough and well-rounded but she doesn’t seem to have anything Valentina cannot handle,” Blanchfield stated.
Since becoming flyweight champion, Shevchenko has arguably been the most dominant fighter on the entire UFC roster, and she’s already run roughshod over most of the ranked contenders in the division. Blanchfield believes that Shevchenko will continue to hold the title when she becomes No. 1 contender. This is what she desires more than anything.
“Valentina is one person [I want to fight],” she said. “I feel like she’ll still be there within the next few years because I know she doesn’t want to stop any time soon, and she always talks about that. She wants to stay champ forever but we all know that’s not possible.
” This is the fight that I want. She is the one I would like to see win. It would be a huge deal to dethrone Valentina in order for her to win the title of champ. Because I feel whenever you dethrone someone that’s so dominant, it makes it that much sweeter. Kind of like what Julianna [Pena] did to Amanda [Nunes] not so long ago.”
As much as Shevchenko is her dream opponent, Blanchfield is first looking ahead to July at UFC 276, when she’ll be watching the flyweight fight between Maycee Barber and Jessica Eye. She hopes the winner will serve as her next fight.
“[Maycee Barber and Jessica Eye] got on a big card, and I want to get some fights against bigger names,” Blanchfield explained. “The girls I fought were tough, but I definitely want to start fighting people with a little bigger names to get myself out there a little bit more. I think either of those girls would be the perfect fight for me.”
