Shevchenko: Modafferi beating Barber was no surprise

Many pundits felt that Roxanne Modafferi's victory over the previously undefeated Maycee Barber at UFC 246 was a major upset, but champion Valentina Shevchenko didn't see it that way.

"It was not any kind of surprise that Roxanne was gonna be the winner in this fight," Shevchenko told theScore. "People (said) Maycee Barber will stop her? No way. (Modaferri's) been in this game for a long time. People can say injury whatever, but first round it was the same. Strikes - even the strikes from Roxanne was like 10 strikes to zero for Maycee."

After the fight, Barber and her team claimed that a knee injury suffered in the first round led to the unanimous decision loss. Shevchenko disagreed.

"No doubt, it would be the same result," Shevchenko said. "Like the first round, it was total domination by Roxanne - by strikes, then by grappling. It would be the same three rounds. It’s not the injury that was a major factor."

The UFC flyweight champion also criticized the way the outspoken Barber has promoted herself within the division.

"If you’re not feeling confident, you are starting to speak about yourself like this," Shevchenko said. "But real, strong fighters that really (have) something, they will never say these things about themselves. The people will say, the fans will say. But not themselves."

Watch the full video interview with Shevchenko below and subscribe to theScoreMMA Youtube channel here.