Alexa
Grasso passed the first five-round test of her professional
career on Saturday night.
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The Mexican standout outdueled Viviane
Araujo for a unanimous decision triumph in the UFC Fight Night
212 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and she was quite
pleased with the end result.
“This was my first time fighting five rounds,” Grasso said at the
post-fight press conference. “The training was super hard. The
fight was hard too. She’s a tough warrior. I think we did a great
job. I did everything I trained for.”
Grasso was able to outland her opponent in significant strikes, but
perhaps even more impressively, she stuffed the majority of
Araujo’s takedown attempts. And when she was taken down, she was
able to return to her feet in relatively swift fashion.
“I’m super proud. She’s a Brazilian (jiu-jitsu) black belt,” Grasso
said. “She’s the toughest opponent I’ve faced. I had two fights
with two amazing wrestlers. Every fight that is hard for you helps
you to improve better. This is the moment in my life where I
finally matched the wrestling and jiu-jitsu. I feel a lot more
comfortable in any situation.”
Still, it was a competitive fight with many closely-contested
rounds that could have gone either way. When the final verdict was
announced, Grasso was confident that the scorecards would favor
her.
“I knew I won this fight. I did a lot of damage,” she said. “My
punches were a lot harder. Even when she was on the fence, she was
doing nothing. I was hitting her instead. I was on the cage but I
was throwing knees, elbows. With all respect, she didn’t do too
much.”
Grasso said she will keep a close eye on the flyweight clash
between Manon
Fiorot and Katlyn
Chookagian scheduled for UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, as
that bout could also have serious implications for the 125-pound
title picture. Grasso has won four straight fights since moving to
flyweight from 115 pounds, but she isn’t dead set on a title shot
next. Instead, she believes another main event might be more
beneficial to her.
“I don’t know. I have to wait. There’s another important fight too.
It’s kind of like semifinals,” she said. “I faced a big challenge,
25 minutes (of) fighting. I hope I can do it again. I wish I could
have another main event, with one of the girls, the ones that are
on the top. I would like to test myself again one more time 25
minutes before that. But if I have to go for the belt I will do
it.”