Video: Grounded Grasso Shuts Down Shevchenko

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko had their first real exchange before their rematch at Noche UFC this weekend (Sat., Sept. 16, 2023).

UFC women’s Flyweight gold will be back on the line inside the T-Mobile Arena. The current champion, Grasso, became the first woman at 125 pounds and since Amanda Nunes to defeat Shevchenko. At UFC 285, Grasso shocked the world with a fourth round face crank (watch highlights) against “The Bullet” in March 2023.

Ahead of the finish, Grasso was officially down on all three judges’ scorecards 29-28. Despite that, both disagreed on how the fight was trending and let each other know it at the Noche UFC Athlete Panel today (Thus., Sept. 14, 2023).

“I don’t have to learn anything because of the loss or something like that,” Shevchenko said. “Alexa, you’re saying you were doing pretty well but I say not enough for the victory. It’s kind of like good point because if you could see the fight, it was all four rounds winning the fight for my side before of course what happened in the fight.

“But it’s kind of like you work double hard or remember what you did at the very, very beginning,” she continued. “Yes, everyone’s speaking about the loss, something like that, but I want to remind to everyone, 17-time world Muay Thai champion, seven [UFC] title defenses. You cannot get rid of this. It’s gonna stay in you forever. You can be better, you can do new adjustment, whatever you want to do, but the power, the confidence, and experience, it’s still here. And it’s gonna explode on Saturday.”

“Well, round one was definitely mine,” Grasso responded. “I mean, I don’t know. Round one was mine. Second round, even being a Muay Thai champion, I thought you wanted to be on striking with me, but you decided to go to the ground. So, it’s fine. Fourth round, I made a lot of adjustments and I think it was 2-2. For me, it was 2-2.”

For Grasso, Shevchenko will be the first rematch of her 19-fight career (16-3). Shevchenko, on the other hand, is 1-1 in her prior two sequel bouts (23-4 overall), having rematched the aforementioned Nunes and Liz Carmouche.

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