Alexa Grasso beat Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285, but the flyweight stars disagree on where the fight was headed before Grasso’s dramatic victory.
In a massive upset, Grasso submitted Shevchenko via a rear-naked choke in Round 4 of their main event clash to become flyweight champion and end Shevchenko’s five-year unbeaten streak. The bout was competitive throughout, with Grasso utilizing her boxing to frustrate Shevchenko and the then-champion going to her wrestling to slow Grasso down.
At a media event to promote their Noche UFC rematch this Saturday, Grasso and Shevchenko spoke about their first fight, with both recalling the action differently.
“I don’t have to learn anything because of the loss or something like that,” Shevchenko said. “Alexa, you’re saying you were doing pretty well, but I say not enough for the victory. … If you could see the fight, it was all four rounds winning the fight for my side before what happened [in the end].
“But it is kind of the moment that makes you work double hard, work to remember what you did at the very beginning. Yes, everyone’s speaking about the loss or something like that, but I want to remind everyone, I’m a 17-time world Muay Thai champion, seven title defenses, and you can’t get rid of this. It’s going to stay in you forever. You can be better, you can adjust whatever you want to do, but the power, the confidence, and experience, it’s still here and it’s going to explode on Saturday.”
Grasso didn’t back down in giving her own assessment of the fight.
“Round 1 was definitely mine,” Grasso said. “Round 1 was mine. Second round, being a Muay Thai champion, I thought you wanted to be striking with me, but you decided to go to the ground. Fourth round, I made a lot of adjustments and I think it was 2-2. For me, it was 2-2.”
Watch the chippy exchange above.