Alexa Grasso plans on finishing Valentina Shevchenko again.
Flyweight champion Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) rematches Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the headliner of the inaugural Noche UFC event on Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which is Mexican Independence Day.
Grasso pulled off a stunning upset in March when she dethroned Shevchenko by fourth-round submission at UFC 285, and she sees herself earning another stoppage win over the former longtime titleholder.
“Every single fight is different,” Grasso told MMA Junkie in an interview facilitated by her sponsors at Stake.com. “You always have a plan in your mind and you never know how your opponent is going to respond, but one thing I can tell you is I’m going to finish the fight. I touched her in the first round, I was super close to do a knockout, but it didn’t happen. But, I was super close so, this won’t be different. I’m going to finish the fight no matter (where it goes). I’m going to submit her or it’s going to be a knockout.”
Shevchenko thought she was winning until she got stopped, calling Grasso a “chance fighter.” Grasso admits she’s unsure what Shevchenko’s approach will be in their rematch, but expects the loss to have impacted her mentally.
“This is super, super interesting and exciting for me because as an MMA fan and as an analyst that I work too, I would like to know what’s going to be her strategy,” Grasso said. “Now she’s the challenger which is completely different from what she has done all these years.
“So, of course now she has to go for the throne because when she was the champion, she was just waiting and waiting, and I understand that part. It’s going to be huge, and I’m super excited for this fight, I love to fight, and this means a lot to me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the UFC Fight Night on Sept. 16.
