Six months after losing her UFC flyweight title, Valentina Shevchenko is preparing to regain it in a rematch with Alexa Grasso, emphasizing her determination to win and rejecting the notion she’s past her prime.
It has been six months since UFC flyweight titleholder Valentina Shevchenko lost her championship to Alexa Grasso at Noche UFC. The defeat resulted from an ill-fated spinning back kick, which allowed Grasso to take Shevchenko down and apply a rear-naked choke submission. Significantly, this was the first time Shevchenko had been properly outmatched in an MMA clash and the first time she tasted defeat in nearly six years. Shevchenko, refusing to accept the narrative that she had lost due to her faltering skills or the end of her domination in the UFC, claimed that it was her error that cost her the fight, not a loss of form.
“She had one successful shot maybe in the first round,” Shevchenko observed. This lone shot was recorded by cameras and is what everyone remembers, reducing the complexity of the fight to this one moment, she noted. “It’s kind of like one moment, but unfortunately, this moment defines the whole result.” She emphasized that she was leading during the fight, and she is ready to make everything right in the rematch, as it should have been in the original bout.
Unlike some former UFC champions who have expressed relief at losing their belts due to the demands that come with the territory, Shevchenko never felt such relief. As someone who has fought to become the best in the world, the UFC title was more than just a symbol of that achievement for her. She argues, “I actually don’t understand people who are saying it was kind of a relief losing the belt. It’s not a relief. It’s extra pressure because you have to get it back now. If you ask me what I choose, I choose pressure with the belt.”
Shevchenko’s eagerness to return as a champion is only outweighed by her determination to defeat Grasso. Though she bears no criticism towards Grasso, Shevchenko wishes to erase the humiliation of her defeat. She promises to approach the rematch with renewed purpose, not with anger or aggression, but with a clear intent to outdo Grasso at any cost. She said, “I’m not playing around. I’ll just go there, my goal — enter the octagon, finish, destroy my opponent, take my belt back and continue what I have to continue.” For Shevchenko, no future plan exists beyond defeating Grasso and reclaiming her title. She dismissed any such speculation saying, “For me, there is no after… Everything for me, all of my concentration, all my determination, all my power, force, mentality, character, spirit, it all goes to Sept. 16… I will be ready to take what is mine.” Responding to critics who believe her time is up, Shevchenko asserts, “The end is when I decide and it’s not going to be any time very soon… I want to win this belt and I will win this belt.”