Grasso is set to defend her women’s flyweight title in trilogy clash against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 306 on Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The card, which is also being billed as Noche UFC Riyadh Season, is the UFC’s yearly tribute to Mexican Independence Day. While the card is primarily built around Mexican fighters, the headliner doesn’t feature feature a fighter with Mexican roots. The UFC 306 main event will see Sean O’Malley defend his bantamweight title against Dvalishvili, who has taken up the role of an honorary Mexican.
The Georgian standout recently visited the Mexican city of Tijuana, where he tried out their dance form and tasted tacos.
Mexico’s own Grasso is glad to see Dvalishvili take up the role of an honorary Mexican.
“I feel it’s funny and it’s really nice that he’s doing that kind of things,” the UFC women’s flyweight champ told Shakeil Mahjouri. “Tasting the food, dancing, trying to be more with Mexican crowd and it’s really nice to watch that.”
UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
Dvalishvili’s Mexican stint began in the lead-up to his unanimous decision win over Henry Cejudo in his last outing at UFC 298 this past February. “The Machine” proclaimed himself a Mexican while accusing America’s Cejudo of not embracing Mexican culture despite having the roots.
Meanwhile, Grasso won the belt with an upset submission win over Shevchenko in March 2023 before retaining it with a controversial split draw at the inaugural Noche UFC event last September. “Bullet” is still convinced she won that fight and that the scorecards were influenced by the significance of the event. However, Grasso has seemingly moved on from that controversy going into the trilogy.
“I’m not in that,” she said. “I’m just focused on my fight and myself. And I just want to fight again and win.”