Every time Valentina Shevchenko shoots a vintage gun, she feels like she’s getting in touch with history.
Inside the Octagon, ‘Bullet’ is one of the absolute best female fighters in the history of mixed martial arts. But away from the fight game, she’s an accomplished and avid shooter.
But for Shevchenko, it’s not just about fun, sport, or personal protection. It’s about history, and the feeling she gets from using a gun from a bygone era.
“I really like modern guns—Glock, Sig Sauer P360, Smith & Wesson. But sometimes, I love shooting old guns because it’s like touching a piece of history,” Shevchenko said in an interview with Helen Yee. “I have a rifle from 1935, and I used it to prepare for the first Sig Sauer hunting games. It’s like two pieces of history, two different centuries.
“I competed in defensive shooting competitions like IPSC and IDPA in South America. It’s not just about precision—you have to move, shoot from different positions, fix malfunctions, and keep going. It’s dynamic, just like MMA. You have to be a universal fighter, and for me, defensive shooting is the same.”
What’s next for Valentina shevchenko?
Shevchenko is fresh off another big win inside the Octagon, dominating Manon Fiorot en route to a unanimous decision victory at UFC 315 in Montreal. It was her 25th career victory and 14th under the UFC banner.
Perhaps even more impressive is that it was her 12th straight title fight and officially tied her with Amanda Nunes for the most combined title defenses by a woman in UFC history.
What’s next for ‘Bullet’ remains to be seen, but there are a slew of women lining up to try and dethrone the flyweight icon, including reigning UFC strawweight world champion Zhang Weili and the top-ranked contender at 125 pounds, Natalia Silva.
