Alexa Grasso vows to end fluke talk in UFC Noche rematch with Valentina Shevchenko: ‘I want to submit her again’
Ahead of her return to the Octagon at UFC Noche next month in Las Vegas, recently-minted undisputed flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso has claimed she hopes to either KO, or once again submit former titleholder, Valentina Shevchenko in the pair’s title re-run – in a bid to end suggestions of a prior fluke victory.
Grasso, the current flyweight champion and pound-for-pound number one, has been sidelined since turning in a spectacular upset win at UFC 285 back in March, submitting decorated champion, Shevchenko with a shocking rallying win, submitting the Kyrgyzstan native with a neck crank triumph.
And booked to make her first attempted title defense in an immediate title re-run atop a UFC Noche event in September at the T-Mobile Arena, Grasso has vowed to finish Shevchenko again – in order to prevent talk of another fluke.
Alexa Grasso vows to rack up submission win over Valentina Shevchenko again
“I would love to knock her (Valentina Shevchenko) out, but I would also like to submit her again with a rear-naked choke so people don’t think it was a fluke, a mistake or anything like that,” Alexa Grasso told MMA Fighting. “I had my plan really clear. I knew she was going to turn, and that was it. It could end by submission, it could be a knockout, but I will win.”
In the midst of a five-fight winning run since making a move up to the flyweight division back in 2020, Mexican fan-favorite, Grasso debuted in the division with a unanimous decision win over Yi Jeon Kim, before beating recent winner, Maycee Barber, as well as Viviane Araujo in decision wins, after a submission success against Joanne Wood.
For Shevchenko, the decorated Muay Thai ace saw her stunning run of title fight wins come to a crashing halt with her upset loss to Grasso in March, having previously turned in a whopping seventh consecutive successful title defense in a close decision win over Taila Santos back in June of last year in Singapore at UFC 275.
