Alexa Grasso’s road to the UFC title wasn’t as smooth as most people thought it was.
Although Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) remains unbeaten since moving to 125 pounds and now has the division’s title, her path to the top did come with adversity – even if it wasn’t reflected in the results of her career at flyweight.
In a recent interview with UFC Español, the Mexican fighter revealed that she tore her ACL in her unanimous decision win against Maycee Barber back in 2021, which put questions around her future in MMA.
“This is something that I’ve never spoken about because it would hurt me and I thought I was never going to be the same fighter,” Grasso said, speaking in Spanish. “In the third round against Maycee Barber, like around two minutes in, we had a weird movement and my knee stayed stuck on the canvas and I heard a pop. I was like, ‘Oh, something is wrong,’ and obviously it was my worst round.
“I couldn’t move the same. And when I walked on it, it felt like when your sandal is wet and your foot slides away. I thought, ‘This can’t be happening. I’m winning the fight.’ I wanted to throw myself on the ground and just say no more, it’s over. I tried to fight with my back against the fence as much as I could. I gave it the best of me and I won the fight.”
Grasso won the first two rounds against Barber (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and lost the third on all three judges’ scorecards, winning a 29-28 unanimous decision across the board.
She got surgery the week after the fight at UFC 258 in February 2021 and that’s why she didn’t return again until March 2022 when she submitted Joanne Wood.
The recovery and first fight back was scary for Grasso, as she was unsure if her fighting style was going to be compromised.
“After that, the following week I got surgery,” Grasso said. “I said, ‘I need to get this done right away.’ I also didn’t want to speak a lot about it because when you have an injury that bad, then your opponents just want to target your knee, obviously. That’s why I stayed quiet and said nothing.
“I did rehab, and also got the opportunity to do commentary (for UFC Español) at a time that I was really low. I thought, ‘Let’s see if I’m going to be the same as before. If my footwork is going to be the same. It hurt terribly. A torn ACL is the worst, the nightmare of any athlete. But I did my rehab, I did more than I needed to come back better, I recover, and two years later I’m champion and that fills me with pride.
“I no longer think of the surgery, and it no longer hurts. I sometimes remember, ‘Oh yeah, I have a graft,’ but that’s in the past, and it’s part of the process. It’s something we run the risk of whenever we fight.”
Barber has put together four consecutive wins since losing to Grasso. After her most recent victory, which was a split decision win over veteran Andrea Lee, Barber made her intentions clear, saying she wants to get a rematch against Grasso.
Grasso last fought in March, when she submitted then champion Valentina Shevchenko to claim the UFC women’s flyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 285. She has yet to be booked for a return, but UFC president Dana White indicated that Grasso will likely defend her belt against Shevchenko in an immediate rematch.