The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Daniel Cormier TV - Valentina Shevchenko tells Daniel Cormier she is FASTER & STRONGER than Weili Zhang

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

Daniel Cormier is BACK with another episode of DC Check-In where he sits down with Valentina Shevchenko ahead of her Flyweight championship bout against Weili Zhang in what some people are calling a fight to decide the BEST female fighter of all time. Valentina talks about how Weili is such a strong and fast opponent, but says she is stronger and faster, and that we will find out Saturday night at Madison Square Garden at UFC 322.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Daniel! Valentina, Chefchenko, thank you for checking it with me. Guys, one of the greatest female fighters of all time. Honestly, one of the greatest fighters of all time, regardless of gender, sits down with us today. We were just talking about your training camp and how you spend a lot of time everywhere. But why do you feel it necessary to be in,

Texas, New Jersey, Thailand. I mean, where else did you train that for this bike camp? And how long was the camp? I don't feel that it's necessary. It's just like the way I am. Yeah, why do you like it so much then? Because for me, travel and martial arts, it's all ties so much together that it's never separate.

And travel was always like big part of my lifestyle, same as martial arts. All my travel because of martial arts. All my martial arts. arts is because of travel. It's like, it's all one. And I feel it's a great opportunity. When you travel, it's kind of like opening your mind.

It's you are able to meet new people with the same patient as you are. You're able to meet new cultures. You are able to get the best of every culture and see how diverse our world. And then when you are back, appreciate what you have and what you don't have. And it's kind of like good things to, in terms like if you want to be wiser person. Yeah, where's home at? Is Vegas? Las Vegas.

Yeah, Vegas. So where do you spend the majority of the camp? How long are you in these places, you and coach? It's all depends. It's all depends. It's never fixed. It's never certain. This time we started in place.

Thailand. They're like amazing Tiger Mouetai camp and it's like gym gym, what I represent. Always was like my home back in Thailand. In Morocco we had, I was part of the

terminal list. I was doing some fight scenes like you're on the show or the movie. Yeah, the show terminal list. Yeah, exactly. The second season True Believers. Nice. And I'm playing a spy over there. I'm going to watch it. You're playing a spy.

A spy. It's absolutely perfect. For years, I've told you. For years, I have told you you're like a spy. And you played the spy. I cannot go watch. What episode is it? What episode?

It's 207, episode two. Okay. Turn around the list. Episode 207, go watch the champ. I'm definitely going to watch it right now. Okay, so you're in Morocco for that. Yes, for that. And definitely, it was quite like farther from now.

And that's why I could have more travels, but definitely we go any place and we check on the gyms. So we were like it to, because we spent like different cities in Casablanca, Tangier, in Marrakesh and Asni. So like in everywhere we were able to train to find a gym with mixed martial arts guys. And I were able to train there. Then we got back home to Las Vegas, definitely Andrade. multi-gym where I always train over there, good training partners, UC fighter Josalyn Edwards, Pieroz, they were like my training partner, same with Jason Andrada. Then El Paso, Texas, then martial arts, what my third training camp I spent over there.

It's like good feeling as a, like a family spirit. And in general, El Paso, it feels like very like old style. when you go in any restaurants and you feel like in someone's family. House, yes, like in somebody's house. It's so good, so many. Plus, my training partners was some from El Paso, another one from Mexico, Ciudad Juarez, and every time, like, every day crossing the border,

come train with me, then come back home. And it's like, it's very, it means a lot to me. Yeah. And then final part here, New Jersey, one of my corners, Richie, Van Houghton, he had, as a gym culture gym here in New Jersey. So same amazing training partners. And I was very lucky to have all of them in my training camp.

That's an amazing training camp, a lot of time. And honestly, going into those new places, it must like, it's like an awakening, right? Because in camp, it can get a little bit repetitive, right? You wake up, you train. You wake up, you train. You wake up, you train. But by going to all these new places, I bet it's like refreshing to wake up in a different place with a different type of energy every single time.

how quickly after your last title defense against Mano Fior, did you believe or know that it was going to be a super fight between you and Zhang Wei Li? Pretty fast. When I first, like, receive a notice about that fight, it's kind of like I even felt that I'm still in shape. Yeah, it was that fast. Yes, it was pretty fast. But then I took a little bit time to actually, like, recover. from the training camp mentally physically and we went to Washington State

in Puget Sound where I have a boat and spent like about two months just living aboard, traveling from Marina to Marina to San Juan Islands and all over the area a lot of good fishing, salmon fishing, crabbing, shrimp so this is the way how I was restoring my energy. Do you don't get seasick? You don't get like stomach hurt from like all the rocking and it really bothers me.

You know the best. of Puget Sound, it's kind of like as a huge sea because it's not open ocean. Okay. You don't have these... It's not up and down waves. No, it might be a little bit like rocky, but not something like very horrible. But it doesn't, it doesn't bother your stomach at all? No, no. It gives me seasick. Last time I went to,

on my friend's boat, I throw up all over the side. The whole time I'm throwing up over the side. It was crazy. It just really messed me up. Zhang Wei Li is a champion like yourself. I really believe that for the last five years, female fighter a year could, you are Zhang Wei. It's just whoever was, whoever fought last could have been considered the fighter of the year.

What type of challenge does she present to you being that you've defended this belt so many times against so many different styles? Bailey, she's amazing fighter. She's very strong. She's like good representative of martial arts. And yeah, it's kind of like the highest challenge I consider during the training camp

it's everything that I have to prepare in the best. I have to be ready for everything because it's martial arts, it's MMA. You cannot like things that it's gonna be only striking or only grappling. It can be everything. So I have to be very alert in these terms, but I know that she's fast, I'm faster.

She's strong, I'm stronger. And I will do everything. My training camp was amazing. I will do everything to win the fight and secure my victory the best way I can. You're an amazing striker, but lately you wrestle more, right? Like you wrestle, you control. Is that a conscious decision to make that a bigger part of your game plan? Because you're so physically strong that once you get the take down and your knowledge of

the grappling, it really does give these women problems as they try to get back to their feet. Did you ever like, did you decide this at some point going, you know what? I've knocked people out my whole life, kickboxing and everything, Muay Thai, but this wrestling, I have this now. Was there a point where you realize that it could be a bit of a driving force to your fight plan? I feel that it's majority times it's all about my opponents. It's kind of like being, M.M.A fighter, you just cannot be a striker. You cannot be a wrestler. You have to be everything. And it's all depends what tactics you're going to use. It depends of the moment in the fight.

Sometimes you have to change it quickly. Yeah. Sometimes you have to like react fast enough. And I feel that it's happened like because in front of me there was particular challenge that I had to use exactly that factor. When you think of Wei Lee as an opponent, where does she rank in terms of the people you fought? I mean, you fought everybody. You fought Amanda. You fought Holly. You fought all the way down to the Monafiores and the younger fighters of the generation. Where do you think she ranks in terms of opponents?

I know most people say, well, she's number one because she's next. But when you fought the greatest fighters ever, like where do you think Wei Stacks up to these fighters? I feel the same way what you just told me, because she's my next challenge, and I definitely will rank her as a bigger challenge. Because I feel this approach is helping me to be successful, because you are not thinking, oh, it's going to be easier challenge. No, it's not going to be. Even if you think it's going to be easier challenges,

then you're facing someone super furious, super hungry, like, for the victory. and then like, oops. Yeah, that would suck. You do not want to overlook anybody. It's a fight. You have to be very ready for ever since. That's why I consider every my next challenge as number one. You defended the belt 10 times, right?

Nine or nine? This is going to be number 10. You've defended 10 going for 11. You've defended 10 going for 11. You are now in the rankings of some of the most successful champions of all time. But every time you go in there, you're as prepared, you're as ready as anyone. How do you continue to wake up in the morning and be motivated for this, at this level? Because you never get an easy fight.

As the champion, you always get the hungriest. You always get the most desperate to get what you have. This is the first time that you might be fighting someone that has as much money as you, because she's been the champion. Most people are like starving to get there, to get the belt, to get the money. How do you stay motivated to stay ahead of the curve like you have been for so long? Because it doesn't even look like you're slowing down at all. First of all, because martial arts for me, it's not the way just to get money.

It's not my job. It's not my career. It's my lifestyle. It's my life. I'm martial art. Not martial artist. I am martial art. And everything, what I represent, it's martial arts.

For me, it's all my philosophy, all my life. It's number one. And number two, it's a good balance between going hard in the training camp and a fight and proper recovery. Managing the training process, it's very important, too, because, like many fighters feel that if they don't train three times a day, it's kind of like not good for them, not good for them performed. But it's not right. It breaks them down. You break down. And you just cannot survive the full training camp with that much intensity.

You have to do it smart, and I'm very lucky that my coach, Pavel Fyodorov, who is, like, trained me since day number one already for, like, more than 30 years. He's very vice man in martial arts, and it's like he every time guide me that's correctly, that I don't have to worry about anything. I just do, like, go and train. My job is easy. His job is hard. Yeah, mindless. It's mindless. And also having that familiar place, like you and coach have been together for, for.

so long, if you get in there and you're kind of dragging, he probably knows how to pull it back because he knows you because you've been around and you guys have trained together for so long. Your guys' relationship is awesome, by the way. To see that you guys have grown to what your career is, it's amazing to watch. Because I was a guy that trained with only one group of coaches himself. You know, a lot of people jump between teams. You haven't done that. No, never, because I feel this is like loyalty, it's number one, like feeling of this responsibility

to each other. And, you know, it's kind of like, I grew up in Kyrgyzstan, it's very far from here. My way to get into the UFC, it was one of the hardest ways. It's not something like you reach 5070 and it's like guarantee you're going to be a key fighter. Yeah. Yeah. I had to like travel all the world, become 17 times world champion in Muay Thai, MMA, kickboxing.

and only after that, like living eight years in South America, in Thailand, in Europe, in Russia, all over this place, like fighting everyone, everyone's the best. And only after that, I had my chance to compete in UFC. Yeah, I think that's why, though, because you appreciate it. All that you had to go through, you appreciate the ability to do what you do at this level. I mean, you've done it as good as anyone, and you continue to do it as good. good as anyone in the UFC's history.

So congratulations on all your success. You are the best. Guys, Valentina Shevchenko once again tries to defend the Flyway Championship for the world this weekend at UFC 322 from Madison Square Garden. Make sure you go follow her. Seriously, she is a Renaissance woman. She owns boats. She fishes.

She does it all. She hunts. I mean, actress now, obviously, on top of being a tremendous mixed martial artist. Make sure you follow her. Until next time, buy the pay-per-view this weekend. Like, subscribe, and tell your friends, I'm checking it when people like to pull it. Until next time. Peace.

Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. Nice.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart Podcast, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart.

This is for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend, and business manager.

And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler,

we have some fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When, like, young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever. And my first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? Rather be disappointed in. Do that. David O'Yellow-O. I love this podcast, whether it's there, or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts.

Dennis Leary, Gait and Moderato from Stranger Things, Tana Monsu, Camilla Morone, Carrie Kenny Silver, and more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility. ability of connection. This mental health awareness month,

tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.