In a year when the UFC celebrated its 30th anniversary, a few fighters made history and pulled off massive upsets in title fights. There was arguably none bigger than Alexa Grasso’s flyweight title upset over Valentina Shevchenko. It was a historic moment, not only for women’s MMA, but for the country of Mexico.
Born in Guadalajara, Grasso’s journey to the top wasn’t easy. As a strawweight, she traded wins and losses over six fights. Seemingly stuck in neutral, little did she know that a battle with the scale would send her down a championship path. After missing weight for a bout against former title challenger Claudia Gadelha in 2020, the permanent move to flyweight was made.
A healthier, stronger Grasso won her next four fights, setting up the biggest opportunity of her career: a fight for the title against one of the best of all time in Shevchenko. No woman from Mexico ever held UFC gold, and most assumed that it would be another walk in the park for Shevchenko. Talks of who would be next for “Bullet” preceded the fight.
