GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Alexa Grasso wants to take her time and do things right.
The UFC flyweight contender has all the desire to be champion, but wants to make sure she’s not rushing or cutting any corners on her way to the top. Grasso (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) moved up to the flyweight division in August 2020 – a weight class that has been dominated by champion Valentina Shevchenko for the majority of its existence.
Shevchenko has five consecutive title defenses and has already beaten most of the top challengers in the division. And although Grasso wants to have a crack at the champ, the Mexican fighter wants to make sure she’s not stepping in against Shevchenko prematurely.
“I don’t really know (when I’ll be fighting for a belt), and like you said, things move fast in the division,” Grasso told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “You can have two fights and in the next fight be fighting for the belt.
“But look, it’s a new division for me. I know that I need more experience to fight Valentina because she has a ton of fights under her belt. I definitely want to fight many more times and the more I fight the more experience I will have when I get to the top.
“I don’t want to be just a challenger, I truly want the belt. I want to fight for the belt, win it, and become a Mexican champion. I definitely need more experience, but time will tell. The experience and how I win fights will eventually give me the pass to fight for the belt.”
Grasso is focused on the belt, but knows there’s work to be done before then. The 27-year-old is not sure when she’ll return to the octagon, but one thing she is certain of is that she determined to polish her game in her quest to become the best fighter at 125 pounds.
“I don’t know (when I’ll return), but I’m always training,” Grasso said. “Right now I’m training a lot of jiu-jitsu with my coach Diego Lopes. I think it’s one of the areas that I’m completely focused on. I want to show that I’m still evolving. Like in my last two fights I was able to take down, control and I’m just so close from getting a submission.
“So right now I’m focused on that. I want to be the one that takes down, the one that submits. I also want to be the one threatening from the ground. That’s what I’m focusing on right now. I don’t know when I’ll return. I haven’t received a call from the UFC or anything. My focus right now is my wrestling and jiu-jitsu which is what I work on everyday.”
Grasso is two fights in her venture at 125 pounds. She won her flyweight debut in August 2020 defeating Ji Yeon Kim, and then followed up the performance with a dominant decision win over Maycee Barber in February.
The Lobo Gym product feels the switch to flyweight was much needed.
“I feel great in the weight class, I feel strong,” Grasso explained. “I always had the fortune to have trained with fighters who are much bigger than me, so it’s helped me. The last two fights I felt incredible. My strength, my cardio, my speed are still there. Because sometimes that happens, I feel like many people fear that when they move up a division they’ll lose the speed. But I feel I’ve kept the same speed, but just added way more power.”
Alexa Grasso not rushing title shot vs. Valentina Shevchenko: ‘I don’t want to be just a challenger’
