The belief heading into UFC 285 was that Alexa Grasso would need to fight a perfect fight to defeat Valentina Shevchenko. Who knew that also applied to the champion?
In a closely contested fight, Shevchenko made one mistake that Grasso capitalized on by sinking in a rear-naked choke for a fourth-round submission win to claim the women’s flyweight from the longstanding dominant champ.
The stunning outcome makes Grasso the first Mexico-born woman ever to win a UFC title (she was the first to compete for one) as she becomes the third newly crowned Mexican champion of 2023.
“Please pinch me, because I feel like I’m dreaming,” Grasso told Joe Rogan during her post-fight octagon interview.
Through three rounds, Grasso had a moral victory of sorts as her boxing served as a wake-up call to Shevchenko early, which made the champ resort to takedowns and grappling that likely had her winning two of the first three frames.
Then came the moment in Round 4. After they spent most of the round standing and exchanging jabs, Shevchenko threw a spinning back kick in the final minute that missed, which allowed Grasso to immediately jump on her back and take the fight to the mat.
From there, Grasso worked hard for the finish until she got it by sinking in the choke and forcing Shevchenko to tap out with 26 seconds left in the fourth. Grasso indicated the finish was no accident.
“I train for that thing,” said Grasso. “It was training. I train every single day that thing, because I knew she did those spinning things. … I trained so, so hard like I never have before in my life.”
