Alexia Grasso feeling ‘no pressure at all’ ahead of Valentina Shevchenko rematch – ‘Already put my name in UFC history’

After displacing Valentina Shevchenko at the top of the UFC women’s flyweight division, Alexa Grasso knows she faces just as big a challenge to stay there when the pair meet again in Las Vegas this weekend.

Grasso ended Shevchenko’s nine-fight winning streak in March, with the Mexican bringing her opponent’s reign of dominance to an end with a rear naked choke causing Shevchenko to tap out in the fourth round of their bout.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Grasso has been reminiscing about the night she became champion and what it felt like to have the belt on for the first time.

She said: “When you have one of your biggest goals in your life that you’ve been working like 10-12 years to achieve just one thing, and all these years came through my mind.

“All the hard work, the times that I cry, I was bleeding, that it was hard, that I was injured, that I was doing good, that I was doing wrong.

“Then having the belt on my waist was amazing and like everything exploded for just a little tiny moment.”

However, with their rematch coming up live on TNT Sports on Sunday, September 17, Grasso knows she cannot spend too much time dwelling on the past.

“You realise there’s another mountain you just came to the highest point of one,” she said. “But then you turn your head and then say, ‘oh, there’s another one so let’s keep climbing’.”

After allowing herself a small amount of time to celebrate her victory with friends and family, Grasso says she has been back training harder than ever in a bid to keep her crown.

“To keep this super-high level being one of the best athletes in the world requires a lot, like, truly, truly a lot, I’ve been training so hard,” the Mexican said.

“Like when you thought that you achieved your best records on training, you know, weight lifting, speed, everything, you can realise that you can be better and you have to do more and more and more.

“You just have one life, you don’t know what’s gonna happen, but give your best and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Shevchenko has had some fighting talk ahead of their highly-anticipated rematch with the Kyrgyzstani ​​saying she plans to “destroy” Grasso and win back the title.

However, Grasso is refusing to get involved in any pre-fight trash talk.

“You know, I like to say nothing. I just like to do my job. I like to speak with my work, with my hands and, and that’s all I’m going to do again,” she said.

Far from trash talk, Grasso has praised Shevchenko and her impact on the sport, saying, “It’s always an honour to face someone like Valentina because she has done so much for the women’s MMA and not just for women’s MMA, you know, she has an amazing history even for male fighters.”

With a fight record of 16 wins and three losses, Grasso has welcomed the opportunity to put her skills to the test against Shevchenko once again.

“Facing someone that level makes you better. So, I’m learning so much, I’m improving so much. Every single fight I’m better and this won’t be different,” she said.

Victory over Shevchenko last time out saw Grasso become the third Mexican-born champion in UFC history, following Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez.

She is the only fighter from the country to still be holding a belt, but she insists that is not adding any extra significance ahead of the bout.

“No pressure at all. I feel super happy. I already put my name in the history in the UFC, which is amazing for me. Like I said, I can die tomorrow super happy.”

The action gets underway from 3am BST on Sunday, September 17.