MMA

Who is the new champion Alexa Grasso? The Mexican beauty shocked the world and rewrote UFC history

Looking at her face, you wouldn’t guess she’s 29, but you wouldn’t guess she’s an MMA fighter either. However, the pretty girl from Mexico shocked the world over the weekend when she defeated one of the best and most dominant fighters in world MMA. Alexa Grasso is the new UFC champion.

Published

1 year ago

6. 3. 2023

Pavel Langr

Her life is a great unknown. Until now, she has put on attractive performances and has often been ranked as one of the most beautiful fighters in the UFC, but it wasn’t until this weekend that she really made a huge name for herself.

By Saturday night, Alexa Grasso was only the sixth best UFC flyweight fighter. Early Sunday morning, however, she made a splash. As a giant underdog, she defeated one of the most dominant and best fighters in women’s MMA history.

Valentina Shevchenko had already won her last fight with her ears scraped off when she defeated Tayla Santos on points. Grasso should have been a slightly easier bite for her, but certainly not an easy one. And it proved to be.

The Kyrgyzstan native did pull a slightly longer piece of rope until the end of the match, looking more complete and having a slight advantage overall, but the Mexican was great in the stand-up, Shevchenko cashed in hard several times after good combinations.

Moreover, the fourth round saw a situation that Alexa had been preparing for. Valentina attempted her favourite spinning kick, but Grasso reacted well, immediately getting into her opponent’s back and successfully landing a rear-naked choke. And a sensation was born.

At 29 years old, the Mexican cutie made her dream come true and rewrote UFC history. After all, Shevchenko has only lost to Amanda Nunes in the best MMA organization in the world, twice, but Nunes is tougher and stronger.

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Grasso has some interesting challenges ahead

And what do we actually know about the new flyweight champion? Mainly that she’s done a disservice to women’s MMA in Mexico right now, as it’s not seen as positively there so far and is still a controversial topic.

It’s also worth mentioning that she started combat sports in 2010, at the age of 16, and that her coaches are her father Luis and uncle Francisco. She made her professional debut on December 19, 2012 and now boasts a record of 16-3.

Against Valentina, Grasso notched only her second career submission win. During that time, her move up a weight class seems to have helped her.

Now the Mexican has a tough time ahead of her. Shevchenko was the longest reigning and most active champion in the UFC, defending her title seven times and reigning for five years. Grasso may well have to face the former champion in a rematch.

But a quick fight with either Taya Santos or rising star Erin Blanchfield is also in play.