Noche UFC is taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on the Mexican Independence Day (September 16), with the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko headlining the event
Six months after the +610 underdog Alexa Grasso shocked the MMA universe by beating Valentina Shevchenko with a neck crank submission, the two meet again. This time, it’s Grasso who’s in the possession of the title.
Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 Odds
Moneyline Odds
Alexa Grasso +140
Valentina Shevchenko -160
*Odds taken from Sports Odds Direct on Wednesday, September 13.
When, Where, and How to Watch?
Place: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: ESPN+
The next UFC event is honoring Mexico, which is why a number of Mexican fighters are booked for the event, hence the name Noche UFC. The Mexican UFC night is headlined by the fight in which Alexa Grasso is defending her title for the first time.
The Mexican fighter is locking horns with Valentina Shevchenko, who’s the fighter whom she took the championship belt from six months ago. Grasso was a huge underdog in that fight, and for nearly four rounds, it seemed the bookies were right.
Grasso was getting beaten up by her opponent, who also made four takedowns. But then, we saw the Grasso magic – she did a neck crank on Shevchenko.
That was Grasso’s biggest win ever, although she did defeat a couple of other decent fighters in the past. She defeated Viviane Araujo (decision), Joanne Wood (submission), Maycee Barber (decision), and a few others.
Valentina Shevchenko is one of the best active fighters in women’s MMA, possibly even the very best one. She’s got plenty of weapons in her arsenal, as well as incredible power, and a very high IQ. Shevchenko is 23-4 in her professional MMA career, with the loss to Grasso happening after nine straight wins.
Her other defeats happened against Amanda Nunes (two times) and Liz Carmouche. Nunes beat her by a decision each time, one of which was a split decision win. Her loss to Carmouche happened in a bantamweight fight. It happened by TKO after Shevchenko decided to retire from the fight after two rounds.
