UFC 315 Valentina Shevchenko vs Manon Fiorot Predictions, Picks & Odds

Valentina Shevchenko defends her flyweight title against the surging Manon Fiorot in the co-main event of UFC 315. This fight may very well serve as a passing of the torch as Shevchenko faces off not just against Fiorot, but against time itself as the future Hall-of-Famer moves closer to the end of her career.

UFC odds favor Fiorot at -130, and Shevchenko is a +110 underdog. Here are my best Shevchenko vs. Fiorot predictions and free betting picks from Bell Centre in Montreal.

Shevchenko vs Fiorot prediction and best bet

• My fight prediction: Fiorot moneyline (-130 at BET99)
  
  
• My best bet: Fiorot by decision (+130 at BET99)

Fight analysis
Valentina Shevchenko is one of the greatest female MMA fighters ever, and even though it took the now 37-year-old three tries to beat Alexa Grasso, she is still currently the best in the business. The cracks are starting to show a bit, as expected from a long career, and she is not getting an easy night for her next title defense.

Manon Fiorot has been waiting in the wings for quite some time for a title shot, but now it is here against a vulnerable champion who may not have many fights left. Fiorot may be able to win a title and add a legendary name to her resume.

Fiorot started her UFC run with two knockouts, then proceeded to look dominant in her following five fights despite going the distance. She is physically strong and has excellent takedown defense, not to mention that she sets an excellent pace and is hard to slow down thanks to her elite-level conditioning.

She is coming off a dominant points win over Erin Blanchfield, where she landed 172 significant strikes and a takedown, pouring it on late in the fight to secure her long-awaited title shot.

There’s not much to say about Shevchenko that hasn’t been said already, so we’ll focus on some uncomfortable truths.

First, Shevchenko is on the decline, and the warning signs were showing when she had a much tougher-than-expected night against Talia Santos. Her impeccable fight IQ looked compromised as she gave away the first fight to Grasso after a lazy spinning kick led to her getting taken down and choked out.

Grasso outstruck her and knocked her down in the first rematch, but Shevchenko muddied things up by landing four takedowns and dominating the control time battle. By the third fight, Grasso had nothing else to try, and Shevchenko outpaced her.

Fiorot’s cardio is just as good as Grasso’s, but she has better takedown defense and is a physically strong fighter. Fiorot is landing 6.26 significant strikes per minute compared to the champ’s 3.16, and she’ll be tough for Shevchenko to take down.

While Shevchenko is the better pure striker and is more likely to get any sort of finish as Fiorot has transitioned to a points fighter as of late, I don’t see her carrying over the success she had in her last fight, which was mostly due to her getting two good looks at her opponent before finally figuring her out. Fiorot is the pick.

Best bet analysis
Shevchenko is notably tough and won’t get knocked out by Fiorot. Fiorot fights at a fast pace, but she doesn’t commit to a finish and is content with overwhelming opponents with activity and not exposing herself to danger for the sake of a knockout.

These two will likely see the scorecards, but Shevchenko’s inability to take Fiorot down or blunt her output will cost her in the end. My best bet is Fiorot to win by decision.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Manon Fiorot odds

Method of Victory	Shevchenko	Fiorot
To win outright	+105	-125
To win by KO/TKO	+950	+600
To win by decision	+190	+135
To win by submission	+800	+1750
Draw	+2500	+2500

Odds as of 5-10.

Bet on the UFC at BET99!

One of Canada's best sportsbooks for UFC betting, join BET99 and get up to $1,000 bonus bets back if your first bet doesn’t win when using our BET99 promo code COVERSBONUS!

Sign Up Now at 

^{*Not available in Ontario}

Valentina Shevchenko vs Manon Fiorot tale of the tape

Pages related to this topic