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Alexa Grasso submits Valentina Shevchenko to become new champion (UFC)

In the co-main event of UFC 285, Valentina Shevchenko sought to defend her UFC flyweight title for the eighth time against Mexican star Alexa Grasso. Shevchenko first captured the title in 2018 by defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 and had continued her dominant title reign for five years, four of her seven title defences coming by knockout.

Originally a strawweight, Grasso moved to flyweight in 2020, where she had remained undefeated in the weight class, winning four fights on route to her title opportunity at UFC 284.

Grasso entered the cage as a +600 underdog, while Shevchenko was the -850 favorite. Grasso had some success in the first round, cracking Shevchenko with a strong left hand, seeming to rock the champion in the later half of the round. However, over the next two rounds, Shevchenko began to pull away from Grasso on the scorecards, taking down the challenger multiple times, as well as countering her strikes.

Entering the fourth round, Shevchenko was ahead by two rounds, all three judges scoring the fight 29-28. Shevchenko again shot to takedown Grasso; however, Grasso was able to stuff the takedown and keep the fight standing. In the last minute of the round, Shevchenko threw a spinning back kick, but as she turned her back to her opponent, Grasso rushed in and quickly took Shevchenko’s back and attacked a rear naked choke. Although not under her opponent’s chin like a traditional rear naked choke, Grasso instead crushed Shevchenko’s jaw and locked in a neck crank submission, forcing Shevchenko to tap, winning the UFC flyweight title.

Grasso, a fighter known for her stand-up and boxing skills, who only had one other submission victory on her record, had beaten the most dominant women’s flyweight fighter in UFC history via submission and in doing so became the first ever female Mexican UFC champion, and the third Mexican UFC champion in the company’s history. For her victory, Grasso was awarded a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.