Fan favorite Valentina Shevchenko is returning to the octagon to reclaim her lost flyweight belt next week against a familiar foe in Alexa Grasso. In fact, the two have met in the octagon on two separate occasions – one ending in a draw after Grasso captured the belt from the Kyrgyz fighter at UFC 285 last year. But there’s a reason she keeps on fighting despite having a legendary career.
Prior to their clash at the Sphere, ‘The Bullet’ joined CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri for an exclusive and that’s when she revealed her motivation to continue.
“It’s my passion for martial arts because for me it’s not just a job, it’s not just a work, its not the way to get in money and it’s so much more behind that. It’s my passion, it’s my life, it’s everything what I enjoy to do in my life and I’m really glad that I don’t have to look for this extra motivation.”
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For Valentina, fighting in the octagon at the highest level is not a job or strenuous work or the money but it’s the undying passion for martial arts that fuels her.
According to the fighter, it’s this unwavering passion that has kept the fire burning in her heart. She then revealed that even now after 16 fights in the promotion, she feels exactly the same as the first time she has stepped into the cage.
In all honesty, there’s no shame if she all of a sudden decides to call it quits tomorrow because she has cemented her legacy in the UFC as one of its most dominant champions.
Meanwhile, her opponent, Alex Grasso, ahead of her title defense revealed her dream opponent, and talked about her desire to become a two-division champion.
Grasso names Zhang Weili her dream opponent
UFC’s debut card at MSG’s Sphere will have two title fights at the front – a bantamweight title fight and the above-mentioned flyweight clash between Grasso and Shevchenko as the co-mains.
While the two are loading the guns, readying for an epic duel, Grasso ahead of next week’s bout opened up about a potential run for the second title, naming the current strawweight champion, Zhang Weili as her dream opponent.
During an exclusive to Stake, the flyweight champ discussed the possibility of sharing the Octagon with the Chinese champion one day.
“Weili Zhang is my dream fight,” Grasso told Stake. “It will be one of my biggest fights to date. She is strong, powerful, and well-rounded. She is a great fighter and I even heard she would love to test herself at 125, so I would love to welcome her.’’
Grasso also mentioned that she’d love to become a two-division champion but she’d rather stay at 125 pounds to allow her teammates to shine. This essentially means that she is more than willing to pause that dream for now so that Lupita ‘Loopy’ Godinez & Irene Aldana can capture the belts at strawweight & bantamweight.
