Velasquez vs Shakalova

Who won Velasquez vs Shakalova?

Ekaterina Shakalova beat Juliana Velasquez by submission in the 1st round during the prelims of PFL 2025 World Tournament, on Friday 11th April 2025 at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Women’s Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 125 pounds (8.9 stone or 56.7 KG).

Velasquez vs Shakalova stats

Juliana Velasquez stepped into the octagon with a record of 13 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Ekaterina Shakalova made her way to the cage with a record of 8 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 1 of those win coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

This was Juliana Velasquez's 3rd fight in the PFL, having made her debut for the promotion in 2024. Ekaterina Shakalova marked her 2nd fight for them, having made her own debut for the promotion in 2025.

Juliana Velasquez's PFL record stood at 1-2-0, while Ekaterina Shakalova's came in at 1-1-0.

The stats suggested Velasquez had a large advantage in power over Shakalova, boasting a 38% knock out percentage over Shakalova's 13%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Shakalova had a massive advantage over Velasquez, boasting a 50% submission rate over Velasquez's 8%.

Juliana Velasquez was the older woman by 11 years, at 38 years old.

Velasquez had a height advantage of 4 inches over Shakalova. That also extended to a 4-inch reach advantage.

Velasquez was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 6 more fights, and made her debut in 2014, 4 years and 6 months earlier than Shakalova, whose first professional fight was in 2019. She had fought 27 more professional rounds, 50 to Shakalova's 23.

Velasquez vs Shakalova form

Velasquez had beaten 2 of her last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges once.

In her last fight leading up to this contest, she had won against Lisa Mauldin at PFL 4: 2024 Regular Season on 13th June 2024 by knockout in the 2nd round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, United States.

Previous to that, she had lost to Liz Carmouche at PFL 1: 2024 Regular Season on 4th April 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Boeing Center, San Antonio.

Going into that contest, she had been beaten by Liz Carmouche at Bellator 289 on 9th December 2022 by submission in the 2nd round in their Bellator Women’s Flyweight championship fight at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Before that, she had been defeated by Liz Carmouche at Bellator 278 on 22nd April 2022 by knockout in the 4th round in their Bellator Women’s Flyweight championship fight at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu.

She had beaten Denise Kielholtz at Bellator 262 on 16th July 2021 by split decision in their Bellator Women’s Flyweight championship fight at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Activity check

Velasquez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 11 months and 11 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 9 months and 15 days. In those fights, she fought a total of 16 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.2 rounds on average.

What time did Velasquez vs Shakalova start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 1:40 AM UTC , which was 9:40 PM EST or 6:40 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 2:40 AM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Velasquez vs Shakalova?

Juliana Velasquez was a 2/5 (-250) favourite going into the contest, while Ekaterina Shakalova made her way into the ring at 7/4 (+180) with oddsmakers.