Former UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko’s coach explained why she decided to vacate her belt at 125 lbs.
The UFC announced during the UFC Paris broadcast that Natalia Silva and Wang Cong will battle it out for the vacant UFC women’s flyweight title in the main event of UFC 332 on October 3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It was surprising to hear that Shevchenko gave up her title, but now we know exactly why she did.
Coach Explains Decision to Vacate Belt
Speaking to Ushatayka, Shevchenko’s coach Pavel Fedotov explained why the UFC legend gave up her title.
“We were supposed to fight on October 3 against Natália Silva, but due to an injury to the ligaments in the shoulder and back, we decided not to push things and postpone the fight. Given that the recovery will take a long time, we’ve made the decision to temporarily vacate the belt, and once she recovers, she will fight for it again,” Fedotov said, noting that Shevchenko expects to be out for at least eight months while recovering from her injury.
“Se suponía que debíamos pelear el 3 de octubre contra Natália Silva pero debido a una lesión en los ligamentos del hombro y la espalda decidimos no forzar las cosas y posponer la
Valentina Schevchenko Did the Honorable Thing
Although Schevchenko last defended her belt in November 2025 when she defeated Weili Zhang in a dominant decision win, she chose to do the honorable thing and vacate her belt instead of holding up the rest of her division.
Many other champions wouldn’t have given up their belt, as most prefer to hang onto it for as long as possible, but in Shevchenko’s case, knowing that she won’t be fighting for close to another year, she decided to let it go and let Silva and Wang fight for it at UFC 332 instead.
Now, the pressure is on other injured UFC champions like Tom Aspinall and Kayla Harrison — both of whom haven’t fought as recently as Shevchenko has — to get back into the Octagon as soon as possible and defend their belts, as their divisions need to also move on.
Injuries are never fun, but at the same time, the UFC needs to draw a hard line for how long a champion can be inactive.
Valentina Shevchenko’s Coach Explains Vacating UFC Belt