UFC Noche was an action-packed card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The most surprising result of the night was the main event between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. Their fight ended up in a draw, to the surprise of everyone present, including the commentating team. The official result was a split draw, allowing Grasso to retain her title.
The fight started off, with Shevchenko coming in as the aggressor. She walked down Grasso and used her jabs and takedowns to win the first round. In the second round, Alexa Grasso dropped Shevchenko with a hard right cross when the latter squared up against her. Fortunately for Shevchenko, she was able to get her bearings and survive the onslaught, followed by the knockdown.
#AndStill flyweight world champ, @AlexaGrasso! 🏆🇲🇽
She retains her title after a split draw with Valentina Shevchenko at #NocheUFC
[ B2YB @HSpecialSurgery ] pic.twitter.com/orWjK6zSCk
— UFC (@ufc) September 17, 2023
The highlight of the third round was the guillotine by Shevchenko on the champion, but she was unable to finish. Grasso survived that round and things looked bleak for her, given that she couldn’t defend any takedowns. As such, in the fourth round, Grasso made a comeback and put pressure on Shevchenko, but the round was evenly matched in terms of aggression.
The most controversial round of the fight was the 5th, where up until the 3-minute mark, Shevchenko was winning the round with consistent jabs to Grasso’s face. Surprisingly, at that point, Shevchenko went for a takedown and missed. Taking advantage of the slip-up, Grasso was able to take her back and attempted a rear naked choke. She was unsuccessful but could still ground and pound for more than a minute.
As such, Mike Bell, one of the judges, scored the 5th round 10-8 in favor of Alexa Grasso. This tipped the round in her favor and likely saved her from a close defeat.
Alexa Grasso secures a draw thanks to a controversial 5th-round score
Daniel Cormier, along with the other commentators, was shocked at the fact that Mike Bell scored the 5th round 10-8 in favor of Alexa Grasso. Sure, she won the round, but she barely did so for the last minute and a half of that round. As such, a fair score for the 5th would have been 10-9 in favor of Grasso, which is what the other two judges scored.
Never in a million years was that a 10-8 round 5. GTFO. pic.twitter.com/JeTtsez6rt
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 17, 2023
Therefore, that 10-8 round for Grasso led to a 47-47 scorecard, which nullified 48-47 scores for both fighters, allowing Grasso to remain champion. A split draw caused by a controversial scoring is what saved Grasso from a defeat. Many fans believed Shevchenko was robbed of a win, which was the same sentiment shared by Shevchenko.
On being asked about the draw, Shevchenko said that she definitely secured a win by winning 3 rounds out of the 5. Moreover, she mentioned that on account of the Mexican Independence Day, the judges might have felt pressured to give the Mexican champion, Alexa Grasso the benefit of the doubt. What do you guys think happened? Do you agree with the split-draw decision? Let us know.
