The trilogy fight between UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] is finally happening.
Grasso vs. Shevchenko 3 will take place Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas as the co-main event of Noche UFC (also known as UFC 306), UFC CEO Dana White announced Friday on social media.
A Mexico native, Grasso will proudly represent her home country on a card that’s a tribute to Mexican Independence Day while Shevchenko hopes the third time will be the charm against the current champion.
The two fighters have fought twice before. The first meeting was at UFC 285 in March 2023 and served as the card’s co-main event. Grasso defeated Shevchenko with a fourth-round rear-naked choke. The victory shocked most of the world as it was one of the biggest oddsmaker upsets in history.
The second meeting took place six months later at the inaugural Noche UFC. The fight was closely-contested and went all 25 minutes. Though everyone had an opinion, the only ones that mattered were the three judges, who collectively scored the fight a split draw.
Since the second fight, the two flyweights coached against one another during “The Ultimate Fighter 32,” which is still currently airing.
With the addition, the Noche UFC lineup includes:
- Champ Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili – for bantamweight title
- Champ Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
- Diego Lopes vs. Brian Ortega
- Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber
- Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez
- Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza
- Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Chairez
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.