The belief heading into UFC 285 was that Alexa Grasso would need to fight a perfect fight to defeat Valentina Shevchenko. Who knew that also applied to the champion?
In a closely contested fight, Shevchenko made one mistake that Grasso capitalized on by sinking in a rear-naked choke for a fourth-round submission win to claim the women’s flyweight from the longstanding dominant champ at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The stunning outcome makes Grasso the first Mexico-born woman ever to win a UFC title (she was the first to compete for one) as she becomes the third newly crowned Mexican champion of 2023.
