Valentina Shevchenko, the longstanding dominator of the women’s flyweight division in the UFC, has lost her grip on the throne. In her attempt to defend her title for the eighth time, she faced off against Alexa Grasso in the co-main event of UFC 285, but it was Grasso who emerged victorious. This defeat marks Shevchenko’s first loss in 10 outings in the octagon, and the end of her winning streak. Grasso, who hails from Mexico, has now become the third Mexican titleholder in the UFC. However, what caught the most attention was Grasso’s finishing choke on the Russian, which left Shevchenko’s face in two different colors because of restricted blood flow.
The incident became a center of discussion on the podcast of Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith, who talked about Shevchenko’s below-than-expected performance, the rematch, and also reviewed Alexa Grasso’s ‘nasty’ choke on the ‘Bullet’.
One hell of a choke by Alexa Grasso
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
In the latest episode of Michael Bisping‘s podcast, the former UFC middleweight champion and his co-host Anthony Smith delved into the shocking upset of Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285. They analyzed how the closely contested fight saw Shevchenko make one mistake that Alexa Grasso capitalized on by sinking in a rear-naked choke in the fourth round to claim the women’s flyweight title from the dominant champion.
Grasso’s choke not only left a lasting impact but also left a visible mark on the Russian’s face, which became the center of Bisping and Smith’s discussion. Anthony Smith stated, “You see the picture? Of the finish when Grasso’s on- She’s kind of on the chin a little bit. Like it wasn’t all the way in. And she’s squeezing and squeezing and squeezing until she finally gets the finish.”
He continued, “And when she releases[Valentina Shevchenko] from here *points at face* up, looks like Valentina has got the worst sunburn of her life, because her face is so red from the blood being cut off.”
“You can see the line across her face from where the choke was, where it just forced all the blood out of her face. It’s nasty,” said Smith.
Moreover, both Bisping and Smith felt that the ‘Bullet’ wasn’t in her element during her fight against the Mexican Grasso. Even worse, they opined that this would still be the case if the two were to meet in a rematch.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso 2 won’t be much different
Valentina Shevchenko received a lot of feedback after her last outing, with many criticizing her lackluster performance. In the aftermath of her upset loss to Alexa Grasso, she wasted no time in calling for a rematch. However, Anthony Smith and Michael Bisping don’t think that the outcome would be much different, given how Shevchenko failed to perform at her fullest potential in their previous bout. Smith said, “If they rematch, it’s probably gonna look a lot of the same.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
He further added, “Just Valentina get caught and make a mistake and spin in mid air within range to be grabbed to get her back taken and choked… I don’t think it looks vastly different it they do it again. I think it’s gonna be another really competitive close fight.”
View this post on Instagram
To which Bisping weighed in and said, “I agree with that and I think Valentina needs to use the skills that she has. She is a good kicker, she weren’t using them as frequently as I would’ve liked.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It seems that Shevchenko may have to go back to the drawing board if she hopes to reclaim her title from the new women’s flyweight champion.
Watch this story: MMA Pros React to Alexa Grasso Becoming Third Mexican UFC Champ After Upsetting Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285