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UFC #1 ranked in women’s flyweight division Manon Fiorot is edging closer to an octagon comeback with an eye on the gold strap, currently in hands of Valentina Shevchenko, after her knee surgery went successful and is still in the rehabilitation stage.
The Frenchwoman has been a phenomenon inside the octagon. Manon Fiorot is unblemished in the competition after suffering her first defeat in 2018 and she hopes to keep up her winning streak. Under UFC’s umbrella, Fiorot has won all five of her fights with two victories recorded as TKO and three via decision.
In her last outing, Manon Fiorot clashed with a notorious and tricky warrior Kalyn Chookagian in October 2022. Although with the win over Chookagian, the Frenchwoman topped the division ranking which made a strong case to challenge the current champion, Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko even said earlier that Fiorot is among the names she has her sights on next.
Fiorot is still optimistic that the most anticipated fight with Shevchenko will take by the end of the year 2023 or in 2024 keeping in mind Shevchenko’s wish for the fight in the first quarter of 2023.
“I see the interview (with Shevchenko) and, for me, it’s normal,” Fiorot told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “I’m the No. 1 contender (in the UFC rankings), so we need to talk about myself when we talk about the belt. I don’t know what’s happened, I don’t know if Valentina knows when she talked about that if I’m injured. If she takes a fight now in a few weeks, it’s normal, because I come back in summer. We have to see this fight in 2023, but for now, if she takes another fight, I will fight someone else in July or August and then at the end of the year, we will see.”
Fiorot has already declared that she has no specific request regarding her next opponent. But she only asks for a five-round main event bout as it would be a tremendous learning opportunity for her in preparation as she strives to become champion.
Manon Fiorot mentioned a prospective encounter with Rose Namajunas when talking about what comes after her surgery as reports about the fan favorite's potential switch to flyweight started to circulate.
"Waiting for Valentina [Shevchenko] is not an option for me because I really want to fight in August and in my mindset, I say to everyone [that] I beat Valentina, so if I say that, I can win against anybody in the division... I heard two weeks ago that Rose wants to [move] up in the flyweight division. I'm the number one contender, if she [does] come [to my weight class], she has to fight me.’’