UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko On Her New Panini Trading Card, Acting, Music, Career Goals & More

A professional fighter since 2003, Valentina Shevchenko is the current UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion. Ranked #1 last December in the UFC’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings, Shevchenko is one of the UFC’s most popular fighters while also one of its most feared fighters. Prior to signing with UFC, Shevchenko was the winner of eight gold medals within the IFMA world championships.

Outside of MMA, Valentina Shevchenko has found success in a variety of areas. She competed on the Peruvian dance and competition reality show Combate, as broadcast by ATV, placed first within the competition series. She appeared in the Netflix film Bruiser alongside Halle Berry. She has regularly competed in pistol shooting competitions. She has also joined the executive board of the earlier-mentioned IFMA, also acting as a long-term ambassador for the industry-governing organization.

On July 30, 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with Valentina Shevchenko by phone. Audio from that cell phone-based conversation is embedded below. Besides her work with Panini — who has produced multiple trading cards featuring Shevchenko — we discussed career goals of hers and hobbies outside of fighting. More on Shevchenko and Panini can be found online by clicking here, here and here.

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Tags: MMA, Panini, UFC, Valentina Shevchenko

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."