UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko said she hopes to be back “sometime in August” from the leg surgery she underwent a week and a half ago.
“I was hoping [the injury] would heal by itself, but when it started to frustrate me a little bit, doctors advised me to have surgery,” Shevchenko told Ariel Helwani during an Instagram live chat on Thursday. “They said it can heal by itself but it will take time, a longer time. They advised for faster recovery to have surgery.
“I don’t want to spend a whole year not doing anything. I’m not that kind of person. I want to get back in fighting shape and do my job.”
Shevchenko didn’t provide details about the nature of the injury, only that it happened around the time of her last fight, a third-round stoppage of Katlyn Chookagian on Feb. 8.
“Everything is good. I’m doing my physical therapy,” Shevchenko said. “It’s going to be fine.
“I will do everything I should do to make my recovery faster and I expect to be back sometime in August.”
Shevchenko was expected to defend her title June 6 against Joanne Calderwood in Perth, Australia. The UFC has postponed three cards leading up to UFC 249 on April 18 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Shevchenko said that when things get back to normal, she wants to stick with Calderwood as her opponent.
In the meantime, Shevchenko is helping her sister, Antonina, train for a bout against Cynthia Calvillo that is scheduled for April 25 at a Fight Night in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Shevchenko is also practicing the ukulele and speaking Thai, and she looks forward to resuming learning how to sail.