Taila Santos gave Valentina Shevchenko a tough night in the office when they met for the flyweight championship at UFC 275 in Singapore this past June, and she’s since waited for her next assignment.
Santos was told immediately after the bout she would have to go under the knife to fix a broken orbital, courtesy of a clash of heads with the champion. Although the injury could have affected the outcome of the fight she was able to avoid surgery. Cleared to train for months now, she remains in waiting mode.
” We’ve asked for fights repeatedly — asking for the rematch really,” Santos stated in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Tiago [Okamura, manager] spoke with Mick [Maynard] and the UFC, informed them I was well and training. Even though Valentina was not running, they said so. She asked them for fights, but not against me.”
According to the Brazilian talent, the UFC matchmaker “called six or seven girls, and no one agreed” to fight her.
“I am training and waiting but it has been difficult to get a fight.” she stated. Valentina refused to agree to the rematch. Based on her social media, she’s just traveling.”
Winner in UFC four times in succession against Roxanne Modafferi, Molly McCann and Joanne Wood, before falling short against Shevchenko. Santos stated that she is not surprised by the champion’s refusal to meet again.
“All the girls say Valentina is a monster, but I’ve been saying for a while she has no ground game,” Santos said. I proved that [her]. was not to be afraid. After that fight, I was certain she would not agree to a rematch. I called her out anyway, but I knew she wouldn’t take the risk of losing her belt. After I demonstrated that she wasn’t big of a deal, she wouldn’t match me again. She’s scared.”
Happy to finally be part of EA Sports’ UFC 4 game, Santos said she’s so eager to compete she would be down to re-entering the octagon as early as December, or even be a late addition to the UFC 283 lineup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Jan. 21.
” I’m No. 2 in the UFC, so I would like to fight someone around me,” Santos said. I would love to fight No. 1, [Manon] Fiorot, or the one below me, [Katlyn] Chookagian. There are many people who keep on talking about fighters who have already retired, but nobody says my name .”
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Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/22/23471752/taila-santos-accuses-valentina-shevchenko-running-from-rematch-she-scared-ufc?rand=96749
