Reigning UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will defend her 125-pound title against No. 6-ranked division contender Alexa Grasso in the upcoming UFC 285 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, locked and loaded for TONIGHT (Sat., March 4, 2023) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. To help get fans pumped for the five-round showdown, the UFC video team released a special “Championship Mindset” preview.
Shevchenko (23-3) is the winner of nine straight, which includes her split decision victory over Brazilian bruiser Taila Santos in the UFC 275 co-main event last June. Most fans expected an immediate rematch; however, matchmakers had other plans.
Grasso (15-3) rebounded from a decision loss to Carla Esparza to capture four in a row, recently taking a unanimous decision over Viviane Araujo at UFC Vegas 62. The rough-and-tumble Grasso will enter the contest five years younger than “Bullet” at 29.
UFC 285 will be headlined by the vacant heavyweight title fight between former 205-pound champion Jon Jones and ex-interim titleholder Ciryl Gane. Elsewhere on the card, Bo Nickal and Jamie Pickett collide at middleweight while Derek Brunson and Dricus Du Plessis hook ‘em up at 185 pounds.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 285 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 285: “Jones vs. Gane” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 285 fight card and PPV lineup click here.