The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday will return to Las Vegas with UFC Fight Night 227, which it has branded “Noche UFC” to celebrate Mexican Independence Day by featuring Mexican and Mexican-American talent at T-Mobile Arena. This event was hit particularly hard by injuries and fighter replacements, but the headliner has remained intact, as Alexa Grasso looks to defend her women’s flyweight title in a rematch with former champion Valentina Shevchenko. The co-headliner between Kevin Holland and Jack Della Maddalena is decidedly not in line with the Mexican theme but figures to be an excellent fight, while the rest of the main card sees some fun pairings that seem guaranteed to provide some action.
UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
#1 P4P | Alexa Grasso (16-3, 8-3 UFC) vs. #3 P4P | Valentina Shevchenko (23-4, 12-3 UFC)ODDS: Shevchenko (-166), Grasso (+140)
With one massive title upset taking place at UFC 293, it is now time to revisit the other seismic UFC title change of 2023, as Grasso looks to defend the flyweight crown that she won from Shevchenko in March. It was the culmination of a six and a half-year rollercoaster of a UFC career for Grasso, who came into the company as the theoretical face of the promotion’s push into Mexico back in 2016, then fell by the wayside thanks to a combination of injury layoffs and disappointing performances. Everything started to click into place once Grasso moved up to flyweight in 2020, with a 2021 win over Maycee Barber serving as a particular proof of concept that she could hang at 125 pounds. Grasso’s strawweight campaign saw her get overwhelmed by stronger wrestlers, but her additional mass at flyweight let her lock horns with a physical force like Barber without much of an issue. Grasso got herself into the title mix with some more strong performances in 2022, but she still came into her title challenge against Shevchenko as a bit of an afterthought. Some fresher prospects were making their way up the flyweight ranks, all of which seemed more capable than Grasso of finally knocking Shevchenko off her throne. The fight itself turned out to be much closer than expected—Shevchenko did enough to stay ahead but never truly dominated the Lobo Gym rep—up until the point that the then-champion went for an ill-advised spinning kick, giving Grasso the opportunity to jump on a face crank and earn the submission and the stunning upset. With Shevchenko having such a dominant title reign, she earns the immediate rematch here and the chance to undo that mistake.
Given her status as an elite fighter for most of her UFC career, it is funny to think that Shevchenko’s UFC debut was a bit of an afterthought, as she stepped in at bantamweight to take on Sarah Kaufman and immediately scored a big win. From there, Shevchenko established herself as the clear second-best bantamweight on the UFC’s roster outside of Amanda Nunes, but once the UFC opened up its women’s flyweight division, it seemed to be foregone conclusion that “Bullet” would move down to her natural weight class and dominate; and dominate she did, even if the results were not always pretty. Shevchenko has always been a fighter who prioritizes control and safety above all else, which led to some interminable fights against more passive opponents, but her athletic advantages allowed her to capitalize on every opening available, resulting in some one-sided beatdowns or big moments like her spectacular knockout of Jessica Eye in 2019. Shevchenko’s final successful title defense, which took place in June 2022 over Taila Santos, was the first sign that the next generation of fighters might be able to succeed against her where others had failed. A standout athlete typical of this next crop of prospects, Santos had enough physical strength of her own to take away a lot of Shevchenko’s safety valves, turning things into a surprisingly even fight that the Brazilian may have won if not for a fractured orbital suffered during the fight. While Grasso might not have been the opponent anyone expected to upset Shevchenko, there was a growing sense that the end of an era might have been coming, which is one of many factors that make this fight interesting. There is a chance this could play out like Leon Edwards’ rematch against Kamaru Usman, where an upset win leads to a boost in confidence that carries the new champion to a one-sided title defense. In general, Grasso should be helped by this being a rematch. If nothing else, she now has a better feel for what Shevchenko physically brings to the table. While Shevchenko found some success with her wrestling, there was enough parity that Grasso should be able to adjust and make that less of a factor with some better game planning. Add in some continued potential slippage for Shevchenko, and while this might not be the most exciting affair—the likeliest outcome figures to be a somewhat slow-paced kickboxing match—it seems worth the flier to think that Grasso can shut down the former champion enough to eke this one out. The pick is Grasso via decision.
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Grasso vs. Shevchenko
Della Maddalena vs. Holland
Rosas Jr. vs. Mitchell
Zellhuber vs. Giagos
Padilla vs. Nelson
The Prelims