Noche UFC Preview (Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2)

The UFC is returning to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday September 16 for Noche UFC. The event is set to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and the main event will be a rematch for the flyweight title between Mexican champion Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Grasso defeated longtime champion Shevchenko by fourth round submission at UFC 285 in March. The win came as a big surprise to many in the MMA world because going into the fight Shevchenko was one of the most dominant champions in UFC history. Grasso was unphased, focused, and displayed a resolve she had not shown in previous fights. Will Grasso defend the title the same way she won it?

Shevchenko believes she lost the belt and Grasso did not win it. Grasso responded, “It just kind of surprised me because someone with such big experience and competing at such high level, we know that there are no accidents,” Grasso said. “I trained for that moment. You can see the video that I have before the fight. I was training that exact same position. It was something that I trained to win that fight.”

The champion has once again trained hard, but this time to honorably defend her title. “Thanks to my team and my coaches, they’re always trying to keep me focused, ‘Yeah, you’re the champion, but you’re just one more in the gym. You have to help your teammates. You have to evolve. You have to be here on time. You have to do everything we ask you to do and more.,'” Grasso said.

“I think the most important thing at this high level is to keep motivated, to keep the hunger, and do my best to evolve and improve.”

Grasso wants to show that she has improved since beating Shevchenko. “I know what I’m capable of,” she said. “I will be more prepared for this second fight, for wherever the fight goes. So, yeah, I’m just excited to show everyone what I’ve been working on. My training has changed a lot. I trained better than the last one. I did a lot of adjustments to be winning every single round now.”

She continued, “I know she’s a great athlete, she’s training super hard and she’s super competitive too. Yeah, I’m expecting her best version… She was a super dominant champion, and I’m ready for that. I’m ready for every single thing that she can be ready [to do] in the fight. I’m here to do my best, and to keep this belt with me.”

Grasso was losing the first fight, but she would not go away and stuck to a clear gameplan, which paid off in a big way in her pulling off the upset. One thing Shevchenko has shown in her last two title fights is that the longer the fight goes on, the more she gives her opponents chances to stay in the fight. Grasso was the first to take full advantage of the championship rounds against Shevchenko, but will she commit to moments early in the fight? Grasso needs to threaten Shevchenko in the early rounds and cannot fall behind on the scorecards.

Shevchenko was on a nine-fight winning streak heading into the first fight with Grasso. Another win was likely going to land her a mega-fight at bantamweight with two division champion Amanda Nunes who is the only other fighter to defeat Shevchenko (twice) in the UFC. However, Nunes has since retired after another successful title defense, so Shevchenko’s focus now can be to reign the flyweight division once again.

The former champion has reflected on her title loss to Grasso. “Watching the fight back, I would say I was winning all the fight from first to the third round, except the last moment of the fourth round,” Shevchenko said.

“And another thing, right now my mindset and my focus, I don’t go back to March. I don’t go back and think about what happened there. I did it already. I did it in my training camp. I did it for all these months.

She has realized what she needs to do to win the fight. “Right now, I’m a person who’s motivated to get rid of that feeling back then in March. I’m determined on what I have to do this Saturday. That’s my mindset. I don’t watch back. Everything I had to take from the fight I took. Now it’s strong energy, positive energy, no mercy. Go to the end.”

The Russian fighter went on to say, “The position that I’m right now, I have no choice for any sentimental things,” Shevchenko said. “I have no time for that. It’s a fight. In this fight, I have to just go without any step back, always forward.”

Shevchenko promises a convincing win. “I’m not playing around,” Shevchenko said. “I’ll just go there, my goal — enter the octagon, finish, destroy my opponent, take my belt back and continue what I have to continue.”

Shevchenko defended the title seven times and is one of the winningest champions in UFC history. We cannot completely rule out Shevechnko vs. Nunes 3 somewhere down the road which is the win she needs to cement her legacy as the greatest women’s fighter of all-time. If she wants to cement her position as the greatest women’s fighter right now, it starts with a win over Grasso on Saturday.

The rest of the main card:

Welterweight - #13Kevin Holland vs. #14Jack Della Maddalena

Bantamweight - Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Terrence Mitchell

Lightweight - Daniel Zellhuber vs. Christos Giagos

Featherweight - Fernando Padilla vs. Kyle Nelson

ESPN + Prelims:

Women's Strawweight - Lupita Godinez vs. Elise Reed

Middleweight - Roman Kopylov vs. Josh Fremd

Flyweight - Edgar Cháirez vs. Daniel Lacerda

Women's Flyweight - #14Tracy Cortez vs. #15Jasmine Jasudavicius

Lightweight - Alex Reyes vs. Charlie Campbell