Alexa Grasso expects Valentina Shevchenko to retain title at UFC 275, sees lack of fear as key to dethrone champ

Alexa Grasso doesn’t see things changing at the top of the UFC women’s flyweight division in the near future.

The contender thinks Valentina Shevchenko will successfully defend het title once again when she clashes with streaking challenger Taila Santos in the UFC 275 co-main event June 11. Grasso (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) expects a good challenge from the Brazilian, but not good enough to dethrone the champion, who’s looking to make her seventh consecutive title defense.

“I think Taila is a very strong opponent,” Grasso told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “She always goes forward, looks for the fight, she has striking and ground game – she’s a very complete fighter.

“I do think she can give Valentina a lot of difficulties. But we do have a girl (in Shevchenko) that’s been training and fighting since she was young. She has a ton of experience when it comes to fighting. So I think it’s going to be a very good fight and very exciting. I’m dying to see it, but I do think Valentina is going to retain her title unless Taila surprises with a hard punch – because she does have power.”

Shevchenko is unbeaten since she dropped down to 125 pounds from bantamweight. Her only two career losses in the UFC came against 135-pound champion Amanda Nunes, who’s considered by many to be the greatest female MMA fighter of all time.

Grasso thinks confidence and a lack of fear is a key factor to dethrone Shevchenko – something other challengers have lacked, according to Grasso.

“My personal opinion, and I saw this from personal experience: Sometimes when you fight an opponent with a lot of experience, a lot of fights, and you know she’s very good in a specific area, you sometimes enter feeling unsure.

“And unfortunately, that can play against you. I think that’s what’s happened with previous girls. They enter with fear, thinking, ‘Oh man, she’s going to hit me hard. She’s going to take me down,’ and that makes it hard for them to try.

“We saw it in the case of Julianna Peña. You could tell she had zero fear – zero fear. And what happened? She won (against Nunes). Of course, she did leave with a black eye and everything, but she went in without fear and was able to beat someone who was thought to be invincible. I think that’s the factor. Hopefully we can change that (way of thinking). Thankfully, I already changed it and now I enter a lot more confident and sure of myself every fight. That’s my personal opinion. I think that’s it.”

Grasso is coming off a first-round submission win over Joanne Wood in the UFC on ESPN 33 co-main event in March. She hopes to get the next shot at the title or lock horns with fellow contender and former Invicta FC champion Jennifer Maia.