Valentina Shevchenko is UFC women’s flyweight champion once again. Shevchenko defeated Alexa Grasso in the co-main event of UFC 306 on Saturday, taking a dominant decision after successfully executing a wrestling-based gameplan. The fight, which took place in Las Vegas’ Sphere, was a trilogy bout after Grasso ended Shevchenko’s lengthy run as champion in March 2023 before a split draw the following September.
Shevchenko came out aggressively in the opening frame and it took less than 90 seconds before she secured her first takedown. That had been a path to success in the previous two fights with Grasso, and Shevchenko appeared committed to following a blueprint based on what she and her camp had seen in nearly 10 rounds of previous action.
Less than a minute into the second round, Shevchenko went right back to the takedown and ended up inside Grasso’s guard once again. Unlike the first round, Grasso was able to transition from the threat of a submission to escaping back to standing. Unfortunately for the champion, Shevchenko took her…
