Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy – Preview & Matchup Analysis

UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 4, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. In one of the matchups on the fight card, Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko will take on Lauren “Lucky” Murphy in the UFC Women’s Flyweight Title Bout. You can view the full UFC 266 card.

In this post, we will break down Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy matchup. Let’s take look at the fighter’s ages, their height, records, reach, fight stats and more below ⤵

The 36-year-old, Valentina Shevchenko is coming in with a 21-3-0 record. Shevchenko will be fighting for the first time since a win via KO/TKO against Jessica Andrade at UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2 in April.

Murphy, meanwhile, is coming off a split decision win against Joanne Calderwood on April 24, 2021 at UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 and holds a 15-4-0 record.

Valentina Shevchenko has an southpaw fighting stance with a 66″ reach. The 41-year-old, Lauren Murphy is an orthodox fighter with a 67″ reach. An orthodox fighter stands with their left side forward and jabs with their left hand, the southpaw fighter is the opposite, southpaw stands with their right side forward and jabs with their right hand. In most cases, orthodox fighters are right-handed, if you are left-handed, then you fight southpaw.

Valentina Shevchenko:
→ Shevchenko’s striking accuracy is 51%.
→ Shevchenko lands 3.02 significant strikes per minute.
→ Shevchenko’s takedown accuracy is 63%.
→ Shevchenko’s takedown average is 2.64 per 15 minutes.
→ Shevchenko’s takedown defense is 77%.

Shevchenko comes in with 51% striking accuracy, typically landing about 3.02 significant strikes every minute. On the other side, Murphy fires at 40% accuracy, landing about 3.95 significant strikes per minute. Valentina Shevchenko also has a 63% takedown accuracy and on average gets around 2.64 takedowns every 15 minutes, compared to Murphy’s 1.16 takedowns and 70% takedown accuracy.

Lauren Murphy:
→ Murphy’s striking accuracy is 40%.
→ Murphy lands 3.95 significant strikes per minute.
→ Murphy’s takedown accuracy is 34%.
→ Murphy’s takedown average is 1.16 per 15 minutes.
→ Murphy’s takedown defense is 70%.

Lauren spent on average 14:07 minutes in the Octagon and Valentina has an average fight time of 16:34 minutes.

This looks like an interesting matchup, at least on paper. UFC 266 is live in , who do you think will win, Valentina or Lauren? Sound off in the comments.

You can view the scheduled UFC 266 fight card, upcoming UFC schedule 2020, and latest MMA news.