A pair of women’s flyweight contenders headlined Saturday’s UFC Vegas 62 fight card on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. No. 5-ranked Alexa Grasso faced No. 6-ranked Viviane Araújo in the featured fight with title shot implications on the line.
The opening round was mainly a boxing match with leg kicks. They exchange jabs at range trying to set up combinations. Late in the round, Araújo secured a takedown but Grasso quickly reversed the position and immediately got back to her feet.
They pace picked up in the second round. Araújo pressed forward, and Grasso began to sit down on her punches. Araújo changed levels midway through the round and took Grasso down. She quickly moved to side control. Grasso was active on the bottom and was able to scramble to her feet. Grasso connected with right hands once she got back standing.
Between frames, Araújo’s corner told her that she was up two rounds while Grasso’s corner told her that she stole the second round back after being taken down.
In the third round, the ladies continued to stand in front of each other and engage in striking exchanges. The round was extremely close and ended with both women landing shots.
Entering Round 4, both women looked fresh. Grasso connected with a counter-combination in the early going. Araújo answered with a right hand. Throughout the bout Grasso appeared to land the cleaner strikes. Heading into the final round, Araújo’s corner told her that the fight was even.
Both women connected with right hands in the opening moments of the fifth frame. After Grasso landed a right hand, Araújo quickly looked to get the fight to the ground. Grasso defended the attempt and circled free. Araújo pressured Grasso, but Grasso landed counter strikes. In the final seconds, Grasso unleashed a flurry of punches. Araújo clinched and the bout ended with some dirty boxing along the fence.
The judges scored the bout unanimously for Grasso. The scorecards read 50-45, 49-46, and 49-46.
“Of course I thought I did enough to win,” Grasso said during her post-fight interview. “I trained really hard for this. I knew that she was going to take me to the ground, but I trained hard. I trained really, really hard for this.”
With the win, Grasso extended her winning streak to four in-a-row. Since moving up to the flyweight division in 2020, Grasso is undefeated.
Alexa Grasso defeats Viviane Araújo in UFC Vegas 62 main event
