10 Things You Need To Know Ahead Of UFC 213
1. Shevchenko May Have Won The First Fight If It Was Five Rounds
The story of the first fight was almost the perfect set up for this rematch. Back at UFC 196 Nunes won the first round, and completely dominated the second on the way to what looked like a lopsided win over Valentina.
Then a funny thing happened. Nunes came out completely exhausted for the third and Shevchenko almost made a stunning comeback. Nunes was able to survive the onslaught and take the decision, but who knows what would have happened if Nunes had needed to negotiate another ten minutes.
The slight drawback of her dominant performances since is that because Nunes hasn't been out of the first round either time, so we don't know if her cardio has improved sufficiently. We know Shevchenko has cardio for days, and if she can survive the initial pressure of Nunes, she could outlast the Brazilian in a war of attrition.
Nunes did to Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey what she couldn't do to Shevchenko last March, but she did hand The Bullet her only Octagon loss to date. While Nunes' striking game has improved exponentially since the first bout, Shevchenko's ground game has evolved from an area of weakness into a dangerous weapon.