Valentina Shevchenko vs Alexa Grasso: Bullet Looks to Defend Flyweight Belt Against Dangerous Mexican Fighter

• Valentina Shevchenko will take on Alexa Grasso in the co-main event of UFC 285 for the Women's Flyweight title
• Shevchenko last tasted defeat in 2017, and she isn't ready to give suffer another loss anytime soon
• Grasso is confident that she has the tools to win and become the third current Mexican champion in the UFC

The Women's Flyweight title is up for grabs in the co-main event of UFC 285.

Defending champion Valentina "Bullet" Shevchenko looks to retain her belt and stop the threat of Mexico's Alexa Grasso.

Sports Brief takes a deeper look at what makes this match-up so intriguing.

A legendary win streak

As noted by Tapology, Bullet is riding a 9-fight win streak. The last person to beat her was Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in 2017.

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Having not lost in six years, Shevchenko is favourite to run through Grasso as well. The Mexican fighter isn't doing too badly herself and is on a 4- fight win streak, UFC Stats noted.

Grasso has beaten the likes of Maycee Barber, Ji Yeon Kim, Johanne Wood and Viviane Araujo to earn her title shot.

Their last opponents

Grasso last stepped into the Octagon in October 2022 when she beat Araujo by Unanimous Decision. Shevchenko last competed in June 2022 when she defended her title against Talia Santos.

Tale of the tape

Shevchenko identifies Grasso's weak points

Speaking ahead of their title fight, Bullet talked about Grasso's weak points and how she would capitalise on them, MMA Junkie reported.

"I know her fears. I know her weak point and I will use it in my game," she said.

Shevchenko also praised her opponent's striking but reminded her that this was MMA and the fight could also go down to the ground.

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Grasso up for a challenge

Grasso aims to become the third current Mexican champion in the UFC, following the footsteps of Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodrguez. To do that, she has to go through a dominant champion, and she acknowledged what a challenge it would be, UFC's site reported.

“Valentina is the biggest challenge of my life. She’s a complete athlete. She has everything; good striking, good grappling, good jiu-jitsu, so I made myself extremely disciplined with every single training session and I think that’s going to be key for a victory over an opponent so tough like her," she explained.

Valentina Shevchenko's greatest fights

UFC 285 promises to be one fantastic event.

Apart from Jon Jones making his grand return to the Octagon, fight fans would also see UFC Women's Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in action.

Before she makes her eighth title defence this Saturday against Alexa Grasso, Sports Brief looks at the five fights that stand out among the others as the best ones in her illustrious UFC career.