Alexa Grasso is relishing the opportunity to perform on a card dedicated to Mexican Independence Day, as she previews her upcoming UFC 306 bout.
Grasso will look to defend her Flyweight title on September 14 in a trilogy fight against Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event.
The landmark card will take place inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, with UFC CEO Dana White looking to put on one of the greatest ever nights in sport.
A little over two weeks out from the bout, Grasso spoke with Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie to discuss the contest. Although she was ready to go earlier in the year, Grasso is extremely glad to be featuring on such a historic card. She said:
“Yeah. I mean, I wanted to fight like early in the year I was preparing myself because I mean, I wanted to fight before, I tried. I was always, you know, helping my teammates. So I was always in their training camp. So it was really cool because I was always, you know, in shape training, you know, keep (making) my improvements.
“And yes at the end, this happened. It is The Sphere, it is Noche UFC and I think it's really cool. I love the idea and everything that the UFC is doing right now.”
The promotion have also revealed that there will be special fight kits to mark the momentous day in Mexican history, something that the 31-year-old is absolutely delighted with. She said:
“This is a big, big step for Mexico. I always dreamed about having one uniform for me, my country, like with my flag on there.
“I saw Weili, Pereira, Holloway, and I was like ‘This is really cool.’ And now like having a whole card on the Independence Day of our country, like special fight kits, for not just for me, for all of the Mexican athletes and I mean also the others. I mean, it's huge. Honestly, if you thought a few years ago, if this was going to happen, I mean, I don't know."
In a further nod to the significant of the UFC Noche card, the fight night is set to feature a litany of Mexican athletes. Grasso expressed her gratitude at not only so many of her fellow countrymen and women featuring, but also their position on the card.
“I mean, it's a really nice card, putting on like, really, really nice fighters.
“I mean, like I told you, all Mexicans that are on the card, we’ve been showing how tough we are, how committed we are. They don't do these things just because, and it's inspiring. I love to watch these new athletes that are coming, you know, that they are also in the main card, which is really cool to see.
“To see Zellhuber, to see Lazy Boy like these guys are tough and it's really cool you know just me in there, Irene. We have a lot of talent in there.”
Her bout against Shevchenko comes off the back of the pair appearing as rival coaches on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter. Reflecting on the experience, Grasso said that although it was tough, she thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot.
“I had a tough, tough experience. Even though I was not in the house with the guys I was kind of living what they were feeling .
“I mean, it's really cool. I love the show and the dynamic of fighting for your contract, being in a house with your opponents like it's a really, really nice experience. I mean, I was able to meet like a lot of guys in there, like new techniques from all over the world, like different type of training, different type of recovery, weight cut (techniques).
“Because even if it's an armbar, you can notice that people do different things just in simple things and you know how they do the weight cuts, how they do rehydrate, it’s always something new, that was pretty interesting.”
You can watch the full interview below:
