RIO DE JANEIRO – Lauren Murphy thinks the idea of beating Valentina Shevchenko isn’t as inconceivable as it once was. Murphy (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC), who returns to action against Jessica Andrade (23-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC) in a key women’s flyweight bout on Saturday at UFC 283 , already had her crack at dominant divisional titleholder Shevchenko (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC), but to no avail. Shevchenko earned a fourth-round TKO over Murphy at UFC 266 in September 2021, but in her next fight nearly lost the belt. She edged out a split decision over Taila Santos at UFC 275 in June 2022 and went down to the wire in a bout many fans, fighters and media think she lost. It’s Murphy’s ultimate goal to get back to another title shot, and while Shevchenko looked untouchable going into their first encounter, Murphy has a different perspective now. “I thought Taila won that fight,” Murphy told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 283 media day
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UFC 283′s Lauren Murphy thinks Valentina Shevchenko won’t win forever – MMA Junkie