Valentina Shevchenko felt she was robbed at the inaugural Noche UFC event, so she wasn’t about to leave anything to chance on Saturday night.
Shevchenko dominated Alexa Grasso through takedowns and positional control to earn a unanimous decision victory in their trilogy fight in the UFC 306 co-headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. Shevchenko, who is already widely regarded as the top women’s flyweight in UFC history, says she felt better than ever in reclaiming the belt she lost more than a year ago.
“It was my third fight with Alexa and I don’t know, I just feel so different, so powerful, so strong — even better than I was a few years ago,” Shevchenko said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “This strength, I just felt it through my veins, through everything. I think it’s something good for a fighter. If you’re not evolving, it’s kind of like, ‘OK, it’s time for retirement.’ But if you feel strong and powerful and continue to do these hard things that you are doing but you love it, this is kind of what’s important. Rest…. it doesn’t matter.”
Shevchenko had won nine consecutive fights before Grasso captured the flyweight crown with a shocking submission victory in their first meeting at UFC 285 in March 2023. Their rematch ended in a controversial split draw at UFC Fight Night 227, a result that Shevchenko continues to dispute to this day. Ultimately, all of the above provided “Bullet” with the necessary motivation she needed to recapture the 125-pound strap.
“This belt, what it means for me, is all the story [of] losing the belt because of my own errors that I did in the first fight,” Shevchenko said. “Then, fighting the second fight and winning the fight and getting a draw. Then, this third fight, this five months of training camp, it was so intense for me, not only physically but mentally. It is every time thinking about how to become better. … For this particular fight I was feeling so much energy inside me, monster energy, and I just unleashed it and went with everything in this fight.”
By besting Grasso, Shevchenko felt like she was able to restore order in the flyweight division.
“I’m so happy about everything, definitely. I’m so happy to return what belongs to me,” she said. “It was one year without the belt. It was feeling so weird. Really right now, it’s difficult to present all the emotions going through me, because with all the adrenaline and thing after the fight that happened … But right now, in two words, I’m just happy that everything is good.”
