Make picks for Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2, Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kevin Holland and more at Noche UFC in Las Vegas.
We want your predictions for Noche UFC in Las Vegas.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the Noche UFC main card staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. Noche UFC takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event streams on ESPN+.
Alexa Grasso knew she would have to beat Valentina Shevchenko twice if she wanted to be UFC champion.
[autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] knew she would have to beat Valentina Shevchenko twice if she wanted to be UFC champion.
Given Shevchenko’s dominance in the women’s flyweight division, Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) expected Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) to get an immediate rematch if she took the title from her back in March at UFC 285. Well, Grasso is now champion and finds herself in that situation of an immediate rematch against Shevchenko this Saturday at Noche UFC at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Although some fans might be tired of seeing immediate rematches play out at the championship level in the UFC, Grasso is fine with facing Shevchenko once again.
“Yeah, of course,” Grasso told MMA Junkie in Spanish when asked if she expected an immediate rematch. “This is something that’s done, that’s tradition when a very dominant champion loses for the first time. It’s out of respect, and she deserves the rematch. I’m someone who respects the rules and abides by the company’s decision. Also, for me, it’s an honor to fight her again, because we can’t forget about everything she’s done. She’s a great athlete and has done incredible things for the sport, not only on the female side but the sport overall.
“Her career has been great. It motivates me even more and makes me train extremely hard because I know she’s doing the same. I know that both of us are bringing entirely new games. We’re coming stronger, faster and more aggressive than the first fight. I love challenges, and this is a big challenge.”
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Grasso submitted Shevchenko in shocking fashion during their title fight back in March. She’s unsure what to expect this time around from Shevchenko but believes it’ll be a tougher fight than the first.
“I can’t say it’s going to be the same fight because I don’t know how she’s going to come out,” Grasso said. “She’s always waiting but now said she’s going to come out more aggressive, so I hope that’s the case. I hope she comes with everything because we’re ready. Wherever she wants to take the fight, I’m ready. I’m excited, and I’m eager to get in the octagon. I want to fight now. I’m so excited. Of course, things like the first fight can happen. We all have our weak points and strengths, so we’ll see how it goes.”
The Noche UFC lineup has faced nine withdrawals thus far, with two newcomers plugging the latest openings.
The UFC’s Mexican Independence Day card has faced many edits since it was announced and the changes keep on coming.
In recent days, two fighters have withdrawn from Noche UFC, scheduled for Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That’s the bad news. The good news is that replacements have been sought. Rising prospects [autotag]Charlie Campbell[/autotag] and [autotag]Marnic Mann[/autotag] have signed with the promotion and filled the short-notice openings.
Campbell (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will face Alex Reyes (13-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a lightweight bout, replacing [autotag]Natan Levy[/autotag]. As for Mann (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), she replaces an injured [autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag] and faces fellow newcomer [autotag]Josefine Knutsson[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a strawweight fight. The two bouts will kick off the preliminary portion of the card.
The Campbell vs. Reyes booking was first reported by Eurosport NL.
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As he enters his promotional debut, Campbell has a resume that includes fights for Bellator, CFFC, and Dana White’s Contender Series among other banners. His fight on DWCS in 2022 was a knockout loss, but one of the most improbable in the series’ history. After he rocked Chris Duncan all over the cage, Campbell was knocked out in an all-time comeback. Since the defeat, he’s 1-0 with one TKO.
Like Campbell, Mann too lost on DWCS by knockout in 2022. While she was head kicked into defeat by Bruna Brasil in that fight, Mann reentered the win column with a unanimous decision win over Amber Brown for LFA 157 in April.
With the changes, the Noche UFC lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
Champion Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kevin Holland
Terrence Mitchell vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
Christos Giagos vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Kyle Nelson vs. Fernando Padilla
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
Loopy Godinez vs. Elise Reed
Josh Fremd vs. Roman Kopylov
Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Charlie Campbell vs. Alex Reyes
Josefine Knutsson vs. Marnic Mann
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.
Loopy Godinez accuses Sam Hughes of ducking her after a second cancellation before Noche UFC.
[autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] is hoping to never see Sam Hughes as a name for a potential future opponent.
After two canceled bouts against Hughes, Godinez (10-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) feels that Hughes is trying to avoid fighting her, and she no longer wants to deal with the issues and stress that come with fight cancelations.
Godinez was scheduled to fight Hughes on Sept. 16 at Noche UFC, but the fight fell through from Hughes’ side due to undisclosed reasons, something the Mexican fighter was not happy with.
“Yeah, well that morning I woke up and saw the message, ‘Opponent is out, but we got Elise Reed,’ and we take it,” Godinez told MMA Junkie Radio, recalling the moment she found out Hughes was out. “It was right away. But yeah, I had a fight right away.
“When I got offered Sam, I was like, ‘Oh, I hope she doesn’t pull out because she did pull out before on me for my second UFC fight because of some COVID (related thing) with her coach or something like that. But I know she doesn’t want to fight me. I just know. So I was worried that she was going to pull out because I’m here, and I’m doing my full camp in Mexico and of course I’m looking forward to fight, to getting there, and showing my improvements and everything, and of course she pulled out. It sucks, but lucky the UFC and my management, they had this opponent for me, so that’s great.”
Godinez got a replacement opponent for the event in Elise Reed. She’s happy that she didn’t have to wait long before getting a new name after Hughes withdrew from the card.
Yet, moving forward, Godinez hopes the UFC doesn’t book her in future fights against Hughes as she believes she’ll pull out again.
“I did tell my manager, Jason (House), ‘You know what, she doesn’t want to fight me. Just tell that to the UFC,'” Godinez said. “There is no point in doing full camps if you don’t want to fight. That’s just a waste of time.”
The story behind Jewish UFC fighter Natan Levy beating up an antisemitic, internet troll.
LAS VEGAS – It rarely happens, but every now and then, internet trolls will be confronted in real life.
That was the case for Ben, who decided to challenge Jewish UFC fighter [autotag]Natan Levy[/autotag]. The challenge arose after Levy (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) took issue with some antisemitic comments Ben was defending on X (formerly Twitter), and it resulted in Ben picking a fight with the UFC lightweight.
“There was just some back and forth on Twitter,” Levy told reporters during a media scrum at the UFC Apex. “We’ve seen a new rise in antisemitism – online and in real life. Just this past weekend, there were four kosher restaurants in L.A. whose windows got broken. So people allow themselves to speak in a very hateful manner online, and they think words have no consequences, but they do. I turned to violence in real life. So when a troll said he’s going to come to my gym and ‘F’ me up, I accepted the challenge.”
To Levy’s surprise, Ben actually showed up to his Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas to spar, and that’s where it all went down. Levy recorded the whole ordeal and posted it to YouTube, drawing over 200,000 views and counting. It was quite the scene.
As expected, Levy gave Ben a bad beating and had him re-thinking some of his views.
“Anybody who trains knows you’re more likely to get hurt from somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing, so it’s definitely dangerous,” Levy recalled. “I had no idea who was going to show up. It could’ve been (Francis) Ngannou showing up. But still, if you come into my gym and disrespect my culture, heritage and my religion, then I will fight you no matter what size you are or how strong you are.”
Levy is obviously not some kind of Jewish superhero fighting antisemitism, but he’s glad he took the time to make an example of Ben. If anyone in the future is planning on showing up to fight about his religious beliefs, he’s more than happy to facilitate it.
“Obviously, I’m not going to go around and beat anybody up who talks online,” Levy said. “I don’t have time to do this. I don’t have the will to do this, but if you show up to my gym and challenge me, you’re going to get it.”
Levy returns to sanctioned action at Noche UFC to face Alex Reyes. The lightweight bout takes place Sept. 16 at T-Mobile arena.
Kevin Holland has a lot of respect for Ian Machado Garry, but thinks the UFC has special plans for him.
[autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag] has a lot of respect for [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag], but thinks the UFC has special plans for him.
Garry (13-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) remained unbeaten when he scored a lopsided unanimous decision win over perennial welterweight contender Neil Magny less than two weeks ago at UFC 292 in Boston.
Holland (25-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) praised Garry for his performance, but doesn’t see himself fighting the Irish rising star any time soon.
“I think he answered a lot of questions – looked really good,” Holland said on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “UFC says they have a blueprint for these guys to be something special when they have the Irish accent, so I think he’s on his way. I think it’s going to be wonderful.”
Garry has his sights set on former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson. Meanwhile, Holland is booked against another rising contender in the division when he takes on Jack Della Maddalena (16-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in the co-main event of the inaugural Noche UFC event, which goes down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“They have a blueprint for guys like that, and I don’t think I fit the blueprint,” Holland said. “I don’t think I fit the bill when it comes to what Ian Garry has planned and, you know, props to the guy. Nothing but respect.
“The dude’s 25 and he takes his career very, very seriously. When I was 25 years old, I really didn’t give two sh*ts about the career, so props to that guy. When I was 25, I wanted to make it, but didn’t really care if I did. He’s there and he’s taking advantage of it.”
Just 10 days after his most recent octagon win, Josh Fremd has signed on to make a quick turnaround at Noche UFC.
Just 10 days after his most recent octagon win, [autotag]Josh Fremd[/autotag] has signed on to make a quick turnaround.
Anthony Hernandez has been forced out of the inaugural Noche UFC event due to injury. Stepping in on short notice will be Fremd (11-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC), who takes on [autotag]Roman Kopylov[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) on Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
After dropping his first two UFC fights, Fremd has rebounded with back-to-back wins over Sedriques Dumas, and most recently Jamie Pickett less than two week ago at UFC on ESPN 51.
Kopylov was also able to turn things around after a rough UFC start. After losing his first two bouts, the Russian fighter has won three straight – including a head-kick knockout of Claudio Ribeiro at UFC 291 in July.
The latest Noche UFC lineup now includes:
Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
The inaugural Noche UFC has a new welterweight co-main event with Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kevin Holland.
[autotag]Jack Della Maddalena[/autotag] won’t get birthday celebration home game he wanted at UFC 293 in September, but he will get a high profile fight just one week later.
Della Maddalena (16-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will attempt to continue his unbeaten octagon start on Sept. 16 when he meets [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag] (25-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) in the welterweight co-main event of the inaugural Noche UFC event, which goes down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After the card lost its original co-headliner of Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kelvin Gastelum, the promotion scrambled and found a new fight to have secondary billing under the women’s flyweight title headliner between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko.
Two people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie of plans for the fight following an initial report from X user @Standemup. The UFC also officially announced the bout on Friday.
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Della Maddalena, 26, is No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings. After starting his career 0-2, the Aussie has reeled off 15 consecutive victories, including five straight bouts under the UFC banner.
After finishing his first four opponents inside the octagon within the first round, Della Maddalena was tested by short-notice replacement Bassil Hafez at UFC on ESPN 49 in July, but managed to escape with a split decision win.
Now he’ll get a challenge in the form of an established name in No. 13-ranked Holland, who is 4-1 since he dropped to the welterweight division in March 2022 following a solid run in the middleweight division.
Holland, 30, is coming off arguably his most impressive UFC performance in the form of a first-round submission over Michael Chiesa at UFC 291 in July.
The latest Noche UFC lineup now includes:
Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kevin Holland
Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Loopy Godinez vs. Sam Hughes
Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Elise Reed
Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Christos Giagos vs. Daniel Zellhuber
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.
Raul Rosas Jr. will look to get back on track against Terrence Mitchell at September’s Noche UFC.
After suffering his first professional loss earlier this year, [autotag]Raul Rosas Jr.[/autotag] is set for his next UFC bout.
Rosas Jr. (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will face [autotag]Terrence Mitchell[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a bantamweight bout on Sept. 16 at Noche UFC. The event takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and features a women’s flyweight title fight rematch between champ Alexa Grasso and former champ Valentina Shevchenko. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two sources following a first report from ESPN Deportes.
In his first appearance of 2023, Rosas Jr. walked out of the octagon at UFC 287 in April with the first loss of his professional career, dropping a unanimous decision to Christian Rodriguez. Rosas Jr., 18, became the youngest fighter to win a UFC bout ever after being extended a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. In his debut at UFC 282, Rosas Jr. submitted Jay Perrin in the first round, earning a Performance of the Night bonus.
For Mitchell , his busy year inside the cage continues as he will compete for the fourth time in 2023. His first two fights of the year were a pair of first-round submission victories under the Alaska Combat Entertainment banner. He fell to Cameron Saaiman in his UFC debut at UFC 290 in July, and will look to get back in the win column as well.
With the addition, the current Noche UFC lineup includes:
Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kevin Holland
Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Loopy Godinez vs. Sam Hughes
Terrence Mitchell vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
Iasmin Lucindo vs. Elise Reed
Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Christos Giagos vs. Daniel Zellhuber
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.
