Valentina Shevchenko believes there was something missing within Joanne Calderwood in a recent loss to Jennifer Maia that cost her a UFC title shot. Calderwood (14-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) was supposed to be next in line to challenge Shevchenko (19-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) for the women’s flyweight title, but the bout was postponed from June and then August due to an injury to the champion . Tired of waiting, Calderwood rolled the dice by accepting a short-notice matchup with Maia (18-6-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at UFC on ESPN+ 31 on Aug. 1. She’d been off for 11 months and said she wanted to be active to avoid rust heading into her title shot, but then everything went awry when Maia pulled off the first-round submission win . Shevchenko was watching the bout closely, and although she gives Maia credit, she said it was hard to ignore Calderwood looking flat inside the octagon, which “The Bullet” said contributed to the result
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