Alexa Grasso Honored to Share UFC 306 Date with ‘Role Model’ Canelo Alvarez: “It’s amazing!”
While we already know how Dana White feels about running against Canelo Alvarez, reigning UFC flyweight women’s champion Alexa Grasso is thrilled to share the date with one of her role models.
On September 14, the promotion will make its highly anticipated debut at Sphere in Las Vegas for a combat sports event unlike anything that’s ever been done before. UFC 306, also known as Riyadh Season Noche UFC, will see two massive world title tilts as ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley puts his bantamweight belt up for grabs against the division’s top-ranked contender, Merab Dvalishvili.
Fans will also witness the first-ever women’s trilogy bout in UFC history when Grasso puts her 125-pound crown on the line against former champion Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event.
That same night, just a hop, skip, and a jump away, Alvarez will put his WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles on the line against undefeated standout Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena.
Speaking with talkSPORT, Grasso expressed excitement over competing on the same night and in the same city as Alvarez.
“I’m a big fan of him, he’s been a big role model in my career,” Grasso said. “We are from the same town – he was born in Guadalajara too. “He has a lot of impact there in society with kids and sports. So, imagine fighting the same day as him. It’s amazing! If I have time, as soon as my fight ends, I’m going to try to watch his fight.”
Alexa Grasso ready to close out rivalry with ‘bullet’ on Mexican Independence Day
After scoring a stunning fourth-round submission against Shevchenko to claim the flyweight title at UFC 285, the two ran it back during last year’s Noche UFC event. Grasso escaped with her gold intact via a highly questionable split draw.
Now, she’ll try to go two-up on ‘Bullet’ and close out their rivalry on an important day for her home country.
“It’s really cool. Mexican Independence is a big day for Mexico. “Big day! We love to celebrate that day and it’s really cool that it’s known for boxing, mostly. They do great fights with fighters from Mexico, with someone so big.
“It’s inspiring. I always dreamed to be on a card like this. Last year it happened, this year it is gonna happen again. This is something the UFC said they are gonna keep [doing]. I’ve seen Canelo doing this. I’ve seen [Juan Manuel] Marquez doing this. I’ve been watching all these amazing, huge boxers fight on this date. Now, being able to be there doing the same thing in MMA, as a girl — it’s big. It’s inspiring. It’s really huge for me.”
