UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano will attempt to defend her title for the first time against Valentina Shevchenko later this year at UFC 228.
The promotion made the announcement Wednesday.
Montano is just 4-2 as a professional mixed martial artist but won the UFC’s inaugural women’s 125-pound championship this past December after a successful run on The Ultimate Fighter. The 29-year-old defeated Lauren Murphy, Montana Stewart and Barb Honchak before beating Roxanne Modafferi in the finale. All her wins were via unanimous decision.
Shevchenko (15-3) earned a dominant victory over Priscila Cachoeira in February in what was Shevchenko’s flyweight debut, a performance that resulted in her becoming the No. 1 contender in the newly-formed division according to the UFC’s official fighter rankings.
The multiple-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion nearly became the UFC women’s bantamweight champion in 2017 at UFC 215 in Edmonton but was on the wrong end of a split decision and lost to current 135-pound champ Amanda Nunes.
The UFC also announced the following bouts have been added to the event, which takes place Sept. 8 at American Airlines Center in Dallas:
— Yair Rodriguez vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
— Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
— Aljamain Sterling vs. Cody Stamann
— Carla Esparza vs. Tatiana Suarez
— Jimmie Rivera vs. John Dodson
— Ryan Benoit vs. Roberto Sanchez
— Charles Byrd vs. Darren Stewart
— Geoff Neal vs. Frank Camacho
The UFC did not specify that Montano vs. Shevchenko would be the main event, so fans can expect the organization to likely look to add another title fight to the top of the card.
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