Video: Are you in or out on Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko coaching the next season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter?’

Our “Spinning Back Clique” discusses the decision to place Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko as coaches on the upcoming season of “TUF.”

[autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] will run it back for a trilogy bout, but first, they will challenge each other as coaches of opposing teams on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

While it’s good that UFC women’s flyweight champ Grasso knows who her next challenger will be, there was some concern about them going through a season of “TUF” first, considering the last set of coaches in Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler have yet to meet inside the cage.

The circumstances around Grasso and Shevchenko are different though, as they have already shared the cage for a pair of title fights. The trilogy fight will likely take place soon after the new season of “TUF,” with speculation already swirling that it will headline the UFC’s event at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

How do we feel about this coaching matchup ahead of their trilogy bout?

That was a topic of discussion in this week’s “Spinning Back Clique” with Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King, guest panelist “Big” John McCarthy, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Watch the video segment above, or watch this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below.

 

Valentina Shevchenko taking ‘TUF 32’ coaching gig seriously, content with UFC title shot timeline

Valentina Shevchenko says she’s blocking out the noise that comes with the spotlighted “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series coaching gig.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] didn’t sign up to coach ‘The Ultimate Fighter 32” just to take pictures and be on television.

As she drove through old Kyrgyzstan villages recently, Shevchenko (23-4-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC) officially received word of the proposal from the UFC. Initially, she wasn’t really interested. But as time passed, Shevchenko warmed up to the idea and is now dead-focused on ensuring her team performs against Alexa Grasso’s.

“I was like, ‘I want to rest a little bit more. I want to travel a little bit more.’ But once you start to think and process about the idea, your mind is starting to change and you are completely transferring into the fighting mode, the competition mood,” Shevchenko told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Monday at the UFC Apex. “First, my impression was like, ‘Ahhh.’ But then, yeah. It’s going to be cool.”

Shevchenko has one goal, and that’s to improve her fighters, not reinvent them. In order to do so, she’s not interested in guest fighters on her coaching staff. She wants full-time coaches and will bring in some of the best she knows from around the world.

“If I want my fighters, my team, to be the winners, I have to bring them the best coaches,” Shevchenko said. “Not all former fighters or active fighters are the best coaches. They might perform good, but they cannot teach. I have to focus on having the best teachers, the best coaches. This is the strategy. I don’t want to just show myself. I’m here not for myself. If I was just here for myself, of course, I’d take a picture or something like that. I just care about team. I’m here for my team.”

“TUF 32” begins filming this week with a June 4 premiere date. Typically, each season runs weekly with a total of 12 episodes. If that maintains with this season, Shevchenko and Grasso (16-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) won’t fight until at least September – which could align them for the promotion’s highly anticipated Noche UFC celebration at Sphere in Las Vegas. The two flyweights headlined the inaugural event in 2023.

“I was just recently coming from the surgery, the hand surgery,” Shevchenko said. “I still have a scar on my thumb. Time-wise, I think it’s good because I will not have to force myself in terms of preparation. If you force yourself and you just rush in, it’s going to happen that you get injured again, and it’s going to delay everything for even more time. Time-wise, I think it’s good.”

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Video: Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko appear friendly during ‘The Ultimate Fighter 32’ media day faceoff

Watch the first faceoff between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko as they get set to coach Season 32 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

LAS VEGAS – UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] faced off for the first time ahead of their trilogy Monday, and MMA Junkie was on the scene to capture the moment.

Grasso (16-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) and Shevchenko (23-4-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC) spoke with reporters at the UFC Apex after it was announced this past weekend that they will serve as opposing coaches on Season 32 of the “The Ultimate Fighter,” with filming set to begin shortly. After the show airs, they will meet for a third time later this year, with details still to be determined.

In two previous encounters, Grasso claimed the 125-pound championship with a stunning fourth-round submission of Shevchenko in March 2023 at UFC 285. Six months later, Grasso and Shevchenko fought to a split draw in the main event of the inaugural Noche UFC event on Mexican Independence Day.

You can watch their first faceoff before “TUF 32” begins in the video above.

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Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko tapped as ‘TUF 32’ coaches with June premiere

UFC CEO Dana White has announced the next ‘Ultimate Fighter’ coaches.

“The Ultimate Fighter” is back again.

As announced Friday by UFC CEO Dana White, “TUF 32” will feature UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] and former champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] with a premiere date scheduled for June 4 on ESPN.

The cast has not yet been revealed but men’s featherweights and middleweights will be featured.

Grasso (16-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) and Shevchenko (23-4-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC) were expected to face each other in a trilogy fight as the division’s next title bout, though no timeline was revealed. Both are coming off injuries and will fight following the conclusion of the season.

The first meeting in March 2023 saw Grasso pull off a major betting upset over-then champion Shevchenko. The rematch took place at the promotion’s inaugural Noche UFC event in September and ended in a majority draw.

“TUF” nears its 20-year anniversary since it’s initial airing in 2004. The most recent season ran in 2023 and was coached by Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Photos: All-time UFC women’s champions

Take a look at the history of females who have claimed UFC gold.

From the first-ever UFC women’s champion, Ronda Rousey, to the current crop of titleholders, here’s a look at the females who have captured UFC gold since women first step foot in the octagon in 2013.

Who will close out 2024 as UFC champions? Here are the odds by division

Find out who oddsmakers have listed as having the best chances to be UFC champions when the calendar reaches December 31, 2024.

The UFC is coming off a near record year in terms of title turnover, and it’ll be interesting to see if that continues in 2024.

In 2023, UFC championships changed hands 11 times, including two interim champions, which tied for the second most title changes in the promotion’s history. With UFC Fight Night 234 set to kick off the new year of events, it’s the perfect time to see how oddsmakers view each division and who could be UFC champions when the calendar reaches December 31, 2024.

The odds via DraftKings are broken down below by division and include the top 10, but before you check them out, here are some notes that stand out:

  • Former middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag], who’s failed once to win the light heavyweight title, has the sixth-highest odds at +800 to end the year as 205-pound champion.
  • [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag], who’s currently unranked at middleweight, has the fifth-highest odds at +550 to end the year as 185-pound champion.
  • [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag], the current lightweight champion, has the fourth-highest odds at +500 to end the year as welterweight champion.
  • [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], who hasn’t won a lightweight fight since November 2016, has the eighth-highest odds at +3500 to end he year as 15-pound champion.
  • Former bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag], who is set to make his featherweight debut at UFC 300, has the third-highest odds at +550 to end the year as 145-pound champion.
  • Former women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag], who fell short before to claim the bantamweight title, has the sixth-highest odds at +750 to end the year as 135-pound champion.

24 fights on our 2024 MMA wish list: Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones (still), Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3, more

Here’s MMA Junkie’s 24-fight wishlist for the new year.

2023 didn’t disappoint in terms of great MMA action, and 2024 looks just as promising, if not more.

With 2024 underway, there’s a new year of fresh possibilities for dream matchups across the MMA landscape, from the UFC to Bellator, PFL, RIZIN FF, ONE Championship and more.

For 2023, unfortunately, only four of the 23 dream fights MMA Junkie wished for came to fruition. We’re not deterred, however, and are back with another slate of 24 matchups we aspire to see in 2024.

Below, we present MMA Junkie’s wish list of 24 fights we’d like to see in 2024.

MMA Junkie’s 2023 Fight of the Year: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Check out which epic battle earned MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year award for 2023.

With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best fights from January to December 2023.

As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Year.

Honorable mentions

MMA Junkie’s 2023 Upset of the Year: Alexa Grasso def. Valentina Shevchenko

Alexa Grasso’s submission win over Valentina Shevchenko was one few saw coming, making her MMA Junkie’s 2023 Upset of the Year.

She had no chance.

That’s what people were saying when [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] finally got her shot at UFC gold.

It wasn’t because Grasso wasn’t quality or because she had gotten lucky on her way to the belt, or even because a rightful contender was injured or skipped over, and she wasn’t the best-suited person for the job. Quite the opposite. Grasso was undefeated at flyweight, was highly ranked, and had four consecutive wins.

Yet, it didn’t matter who Grasso beat or how she looked doing it. The Mexican fighter was never going to come close to [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] in terms of betting odds, and to be fair, that was true for any woman in the division.

Prior to UFC 285 on March 4, 2023, Shevchenko carried a prestige and an aura that UFC champions dream of. She wasn’t just the best at that current time in her division. She was a generational talent, a living legend, and already an all-time great who ruled over the UFC’s women’s 125-pound division with unmatched discipline and vast technical superiority.

No matter what Grasso did, she had no shot at beating Shevchenko, much less finishing her. If lucky, she might be able to say she went the distance with the greatest female flyweight in MMA history. That was the public sentiment.

Yet, MMA is going to MMA.

Meaning, just when you think a result is a given, the sport will remind you that you know nothing, and that fighters can make unimaginable leaps in evolution. That’s exactly what happened.

In the first round, Grasso more than held her own. To many’s surprise, she walked down Shevchenko, connecting with her crisp boxing. On all the judges’ scorecards that night in Las Vegas, Grasso won the first round.

In the second and third round, things returned to normality. Grasso would have her moments, but Shevchenko’s versatility kicked in, as she had success on the feet and mixed in her takedowns and dominant positioning. It seemed Grasso was en route to a moral victory. Even while losing, Grasso was looking phenomenal compared to Shevchenko’s previous title challengers. She wasn’t getting run over.

However, Grasso wanted to be more than a title contender waiting for the day Shevchenko retired from the sport, so then she could make a real run at the belt.

In the final minute of the fourth round, Grasso countered one of Shevchenko’s main attacks and took her back, something she had practiced in the lead up to the fight. From there, there was no mercy. Grasso would go for the rear-naked choke. As expected, Shevchenko did the proper defense by tucking in her chin, so that Grasso didn’t attack her neck – but that didn’t matter. Grasso was going to become champion, with or without her neck.

Grasso squeezed the jaw of Shevchenko with incredible pressure. It was too much to handle. Reluctantly, Shevchenko had no choice, but to find a way to relieve the pain, and there was only one way to do that – tapping out.

It was an incredible moment, literally.

Shevchenko’s historic run of title defenses shockingly came to an. She had never been finished in her career, and her only two losses in the UFC came a division above against the consensus greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Few saw Grasso surviving 25 minutes, even less people saw her winning, and nobody saw her submitting Shevchenko. That’s why Grasso’s title-winning victory is MMA Junkie’s 2023 Upset of the Year.

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Defying the odds: The 10 biggest MMA betting upsets of 2023

Check out the top 10 MMA betting upsets of 2023, according to the oddsmakers, across Bellator, the UFC, PFL and more.

Who doesn’t love a good upset?

In 2023, MMA saw its fair share of underdogs who defied the odds in the UFC, Bellator, PFL, and beyond. While everyone has an opinion of who should win and who should lose, the oddsmakers (and how the betting public responds) largely get the final say on what history reflects.

This year, with the help of MMA database Tapology, MMA Junkie has compiled the top 10 betting upsets of 2023. Fights that were eligible were those that multiple major online sportsbooks recognized, and that Tapology recorded before the close of the betting line.

Promotions eligible include UFC, Bellator, PFL, KSW, DWCS, Road to UFC, and ONE Championship.

Check out the top 10 MMA betting upsets of 2023 below. Only major MMA promotions were included in the tally.