Valentina Shevchenko

“Martial arts, for me, is not just some kind of job to gain some money or whatever. No, martial arts, for me, is my lifestyle, my religion, my philosophy... Martial arts are everything for me.”

“I put a lot of meaning into what will go on my skin and be there for all of my years of life.”

“My talk is inside of the cage. This is my real words where I talk every time. I think this is really important. You can speak before the fight on whatever you want, but inside of the Octagon, inside of the cage, it shows who you are. You can speak whatever you want, but who you are is who you will be inside the cage.”

“My coach has taught me since 5 years old, and he stresses not just the quality of training but the mental part. Technique and the mental game have to mesh, balance.”

“I did my part. I signed it for UFC 205 in New York. I signed my part, and Julianna turned it down. She didn't want to fight that time, but I don't care about this because I am a fighter, and if she don't want fight, we was looking for another opponent to make fight.”

“My fighting style is mixed martial arts. It's not just stand up, or ground and pound, it's everything together. I have 26 years of a fighting career, and it always works together.”

“I've been in martial arts for so many years, so to hold the belt of UFC and be on top of the biggest organization, it will be represented in this belt.”

“Not everything happens as we want or desire. It doesn't matter. I'm a fighter, and I'm ready to fight every time.”

“My ring name is 'Bullet,' which was given to me by Pavel. It's, like, tradition for your coach to give you your fight name. There's a superstition that says if your fight name matches who you are as a person, it will give you a lot of success in your fighting career.”

“My focus is my preparation, my good condition, and every time, I go forward and forward, and nothing can stop me.”

“Of course my goal is to be the champion, and of course I want revenge with Amanda because I feel much stronger, and I know next time it will be a totally different result of the fight.”

“My mom just brought me to the school of my coach. And I've trained with him my whole life. I started there, and it was totally natural for me. When I got to be 12 years old, I understood: it wasn't a job for me. It was my life.”

“Strawweight, they have one power. In flyweight, they have totally different power. You can be the best one in the strawweight, but here, it's a totally different field. This is not someone who has less power than you. This is someone who has more power than you. This is where I feel this is my field; this is my territory.”

“I already knew that this is what I'm gonna do during my life because martial arts, for me, it's not just my job. It's not just the way to get some money. Of course it's important.”

“Every experience brings something. From one point, it is good because you know what to expect from this kind of opponent - what is her speed, her striking force.”

“I'm a mixed martial arts fighter. But at the end of the day, all experience will help. And experience I got from that fight, it will help me to win this fight.”

“I don't think getting punched in the face is too fun. I keep going because this is what I am. Every time I fight, this is why we live. We have to feel this. That's how we become stronger. That's how we become champions.”

“We already have our history with Joanna in Muay Thai and we can start our history in MMA.”

“If you can see all my life, I've been training since a very young age. I've been competing in so many different competitions, so many different opponents, and so many different countries.”

“I believe in my strengths - in my power, my speed and technique.”