The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to return to Las Vegas with UFC Fight Night 227, branded as “Noche UFC” to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. The event will showcase Mexican and Mexican-American talent at the T-Mobile Arena. Despite being hit hard by injuries and fighter replacements, the headliner remains intact with Alexa Grasso defending her women’s flyweight title in a rematch against former champion Valentina Shevchenko. The co-headliner between Kevin Holland and Jack Della Maddalena may not align with the Mexican theme, but it promises to be an excellent fight, with the rest of the main card featuring exciting pairings that guarantee action.
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UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
The highly anticipated rematch between Alexa Grasso (16-3, 8-3 UFC) and Valentina Shevchenko (23-4, 12-3 UFC) will revisit the other seismic UFC title change of 2023, as Grasso seeks to defend her flyweight crown which she won from Shevchenko in March. For Grasso, this has been a culmination of a six and a half-year rollercoaster of a UFC career, beginning as the face of the promotion’s push into Mexico in 2016, then falling by the wayside due to injury layoffs and disappointing performances. However, everything started to click for her once she moved up to flyweight in 2020, with a 2021 win over Maycee Barber proving she could compete at 125 pounds.
Shevchenko’s UFC debut may have been somewhat of an afterthought, but she quickly established herself as the clear second-best bantamweight on the UFC roster outside of Amanda Nunes. Once the UFC opened its women’s flyweight division, it seemed a foregone conclusion that “Bullet” would move down to her natural weight class and dominate. And dominate she did, even if the results were not always pretty. Shevchenko’s prioritization of control and safety above all else led to some tedious fights against more passive opponents, but her athletic advantages allowed her to capitalize on every opening available, resulting in one-sided beatdowns and big moments like her knockout of Jessica Eye in 2019.
There’s a chance this fight could play out like Leon Edwards’ rematch against Kamaru Usman, where an upset win leads to a boost in confidence that carries the new champion to a one-sided title defense. Grasso should benefit from this being a rematch, now having a better feel for what Shevchenko physically brings to the table. Grasso may be able to adjust and make Shevchenko’s wrestling less of a factor with better game planning. Add in some potential slippage for Shevchenko, and while this might not be the most exciting affair, it seems worth the flier to think that Grasso can shut down the former champion enough to eke this one out. The pick is Grasso via decision.