Alexa Grasso knows she has a perfect opportunity ahead of her Saturday at Noches UFC. Grasso defends her flyweight title against former champion Valentina Shevchenko live on ESPN+ from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Alexa Grasso Headlines Noches UFC Saturday Night
For Alexa Grasso, her first title defense just might be the biggest fight of her career.
Grasso defends the UFC women’s flyweight title this Saturday night at Noches UFC against former champion Valentina Shevchenko. The entire event streams live on ESPN+ from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The event will be part of a celebration of Mexican Independence Day, which dates back to September 16, 1810.
Grasso, a 30-year-old born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, won her first UFC title this past March when she forced Shevchenko to submit in the fourth round with a face crank. She has reeled off five consecutive wins overall, including a pair of submissions.
For Grasso, this is a chance to show to the mixed martial arts world that UFC 285 and her performance that night in Las Vegas was no fluke.
She owns wins over Viviane Araujo, Joanne Wood, Maycee Barber and Kim Ji-yeon since a majority decision defeat to Carla Esparza in 2019 in Mexico. Only a submission loss to Tatiana Suarez and a decision defeat to Felice Herrig sour her resume.
Grasso started her career 9-0 including a win in her UFC debut all the way back in 2016 over Heather Jo Clark.
She has already made history as the first Mexican woman to win UFC gold, and now, she looks to add to it.
Valentina Shevchenko Will Be The Ultimate Test
Beating Shevchenko once is something only a few two other women have done outside of Grasso. She lost to Amanda Nunes twice via decision and once to Liz Carmouche.
Outside of that, Shevchenko has made herself into one of the top female fighters in combat sports. She set the UFC record for successful title defenses in the flyweight division and also has the most title wins in the division.
Her most consecutive title defenses at seven is a record for a female fighter in the UFC and she has her name on several other records, as well.
