If co-headlining a card centered on a celebration of Mexican Independence Day wasn’t enough, Alex Grasso will also get to take part in the UFC’s groundbreaking effort at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The reigning strawweight champion, who will face Valentina Shevchenko in the UFC 306 co-main event on Saturday, is looking forward to the experience.
“It’s huge,” she told UFC.com. “Mexico is growing so fast in MMA. We always shine in combat sports, and I think that’s something great. The UFC loves how we fight. We always go forward. This means a lot. It just keeps me thinking that I have to train harder. I feel proud and honored to be there.”
Grasso already has firsthand experience seeing what The Sphere has to offer, but fighting in the venue figures to be something different entirely. During each fight, different worlds will be shown on the massive LED screen.
“I think the experience is going to be huge because I’ve been there. I went to watch a show, and it’s amazing. It’s breathtaking,” she said. “Now knowing there will be MMA fights in there with that experience, with those images, it’s huge. It gives me chills. It’s amazing.”
UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
Shevchenko, meanwhile, compared it to fighting at the promotion’s return to a live audience after crowds were not allowed for months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For athletes to be in the first ever event in Sphere, it’s never happened before, it’s a huge event,” Shevchenko said. “It’s something with a very special meaning. It’s the same feeling when I fought in the first event after the pandemic in Jacksonville [at UFC 261], and the atmosphere in there, it was electrifying. So huge. And I expect something similar and even bigger to be in Sphere.”
Once it’s time to fight, Shevchenko won’t be thinking about all the bells and whistles that the venue has to offer. It’s a sentiment that is likely shared by most fighters, who must be focused on their opponent above all else.
“It’s very hard for me to imagine what it’s going to be and how it’s going to be because I know for sure, when I go into the fight, I have tunnel vision,” Shevchenko said. “I don’t see what’s happening around. I don’t see anyone’s face. I don’t see anything that’s happening. I barely hear people. So, it’s hard for me to imagine, but looking back, when you see how it was on tape, it’s going to show how big it was, and you understand how huge the event was.”
