On the happy day to achieve independence, some people laugh and others shed tears. The place where laughter and tears will intersect is UFC’s first Mexican Independence Day event, ‘Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2’.
UFC, a mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, will hold a match between women’s flyweight (56.7kg) champion Alexa Grasso (30, Mexico) and No. 1 ranked Valentina Shevchenko (35, Kyrgyzstan/) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on the 17th (Korean time). ‘Noce UFC: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2’ will be held with the title match of Peru as the main event.
The name of the event was also newly launched as ‘Noce UFC’. ‘Noche’ means night in Spanish. Although it is a fight night competition rather than a paid pay-per-view (PPV), the title fight will be held with special emphasis because it is held on Mexican Independence Day, September 16 in local time.
This is a gift prepared for the Mexican and Hispanic fan base that is growing day by day. UFC also plans to open the Performance Institute (PI), an MMA talent training facility, in Mexico in the second half of this year, making Mexico the UFC’s hub in Central and South America.
The main event features the only Mexican UFC champion, Alexa Grasso. Grasso defeated Empress Shevchenko at UFC 285 last March to become the UFC women’s flyweight champion. Shevchenko is on a nine-game winning streak since 2018 and is considered one of the먹튀검증 best fighters in UFC women’s division history, so her result was seen as an upset.
Shevchenko believes the loss was an ‘accident’. After a failed spinning back kick in the fourth round, he was overwhelming Grasso with wrestling until he was caught in a rear-naked choke. Shevchenko expressed his determination to reclaim the belt, saying, “Nothing changes with one loss. Because I still have the soul of a champion.”
“There will be no mercy this time. This will be a completely different match. I know what kind of player Grasso is, but he hasn’t felt the real me yet. He can run away, he can hide. In the end, I “I will take him down, take back the belt, and leave the Octagon,” he shouted.
Grasso believes that there are no ‘accidents’. He said, “Shevchenko’s reaction was surprising because I know that there are no accidents when you are an experienced athlete who fights at a high level.” He continued, “I trained for that moment. It was the result of training to win that match,” and emphasized that the submission victory was not a coincidence.
Gamblers are still predicting Shevchenko’s slight lead. Grasso must overturn public expectations and prove himself once again. “The most important thing at the top level is to stay motivated, stay hungry and do your best to improve,” Grasso said, vowing to win because he and his teammates did their best.
In the co-main event, UFC welterweight (77.1kg) ranked 13th ranked Kevin Holland (30, USA) will face 14th ranked Jack Della Madalena (27, Australia). Della Madalena is on a 15-game winning streak and is receiving great expectations as she has won 5 games in a row since entering the UFC. He is a boxer type who boasts a heavy punch, and a fierce striking battle is expected with Holland, a kung fu fighter.
The main card of ‘Noce UFC: Grasso vs Shevchenko 2’ will be broadcast live on tvN SPORTS and TVING from 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 17.