Valentina Shevchenko planning to get a stoppage win against Alexa Grasso at UFC 306

LockerRoom Team

12 Sep 2024

Valentina Shevchenko is focused on one goal as she prepares for her third meeting with Alexa Grasso at UFC 306: ensuring the judges have no role in the outcome.

Former women’s flyweight champion Shevchenko (23-4-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC) will face current champion Grasso (16-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) on September 14 at the first live sporting event at Sphere. This will be their third consecutive fight.

Shevchenko is currently 0-1-1 in this rivalry. She lost the title to Grasso by submission in the fourth round at UFC 285, which made Grasso the first Mexican woman to win a UFC title. Their rematch at Noche UFC ended in a split draw six months later.

To this day, Shevchenko believes she won that fight and remains critical of the judges’ decision, particularly Mike Bell’s 10-8 score in the fifth round, which led to the 47-47 draw on his card.

This time, Shevchenko is determined not to leave the result in the hands of the judges.

“My main focus is to finish the fight,” Shevchenko said during UFC 306 media day. “When the opportunity comes, I’ll take it and do whatever is necessary—finish the fight.”

The trilogy bout, like their second encounter, takes place at Noche UFC, which celebrates Mexican Independence Day. With Grasso as the Mexican champion, the crowd is expected to be strongly in her favor. However, Shevchenko is unfazed by the external pressure, having faced similar situations throughout her career.

She recalled a time when she dealt with even greater adversity during a world Muay Thai championship.

“In my career, I’ve fought in many places against opponents in their home countries, and once, I had to fight not just the opponent but the referee. In the final, against a Thai fighter, the referee kept taking points from me and prohibiting legal techniques. Despite everything, I won, and when she raised my arm, she said, ‘You’re very lucky.’ But her attempts to stop me didn’t work,” Shevchenko explained.

At UFC 306, Shevchenko will aim to finish the fight and reclaim her title, avoiding any controversy.