Valentina Shevchenko (23-3) is defending her UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship for the eighth time. The challenger is Alexa Grasso (15-3), whom bookies see as a huge underdog. Is there a way that she can cause an upset? Let’s find out!
Valentina Shevchenko vs Alexa Grasso Odds
| Moneyline | Odds |
|---|---|
| Valentina Shevchenko | -670 |
| Alexa Grasso | +430 |
When, Where, and How to Watch?
- Place: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Date: Saturday, March 4, 2023
- Time: ~10:00 PM ET
- How to Watch: PPV
Champ Ready for a Big Performance After Taila Santos Reality Check
Valentina Shevchenko is the best mixed martial artist in the history of the women’s flyweight division. Her overall record is 23-3, but each of her losses happened in the bantamweight division. In her natural weight class, Shevchenko is still undefeated.
Further, she’s been the women’s flyweight champ since 2018, defending the title on seven occasions. Her last title defence, however, wasn’t too impressive. In fact, she struggled a lot against Taila Santos in June 2022, eventually winning by a controversial split decision.
We say “controversial” because Santos keeps claiming she was robbed of the victory that evening. The Brazilian isn’t saying this just for the sake of it. She put on a great performance against Valentina, but the reigning champ did make more significant strikes than her.
Nevertheless, the fact is that it was one of Valentina’s least impressive outings in years. Perhaps it’s because she entered the octagon too confident. That might be a good thing – you can think of the Taila Santos fight as a much-needed reality check for Valentina.
Can Alexa Grasso Do the Impossible?
The short answer is no. A longer answer is that even though she’s a decent fighter, Alexa Grasso is nowhere near Valentina’s level. She’s 15-3 overall with a 4-0 record. Before that, she used to fight in the women’s strawweight division.
Grasso moved up a division lately; Shevchenko moved down, suggesting that the Mexican fighter is smaller and weaker than her Kyrgyzstani-Peruvian counterpart.
Knowing this, it’s almost 100% certain that Grasso won’t be able to beat up Shevchenko or control her on the ground as Santos did. But can she avoid getting finished before the final bell? She’s got a good engine on her, as evident from the fact that in her last fight, she fought Viviane Araujo for five whole rounds.
Valentina Shevchenko vs Alexa Grasso Prediction
Alexa Grasso will try to outbox Valentina Shevchenko, who’ll probably try to take the fight to the floor. We think this is going to be a thrilling fight at the beginning, but we just can’t see the bout lasting for five rounds. Instead, we think Shevchenko will finish Grasso before the final round.
Pick: Valentina Shevchenko to win inside the distance