As if co-headlining a card centered around the Mexican Independence Day celebration wasn’t enough, Alex Grasso will also be a part of UFC’s groundbreaking initiative at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The reigning strawweight champion, who takes on Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event of UFC 306 on Saturday, is looking forward to the experience.
“It’s a big deal,” she told UFC.com. “Mexico is growing so fast in MMA. We’ve always shone in combat sports, which I think is great. UFC loves the way we fight. We’re always moving forward, which means a lot. It always makes me think I have to work harder. I’m proud and honored to be here.”
Grasso has already seen first-hand what the Spheres can do, but the battles inside the venue will likely be very different, with different worlds projected onto giant LED screens during the battle.
“I think the experience is going to be huge because I’ve been there. I went to see the show and it was amazing. It was breathtaking,” she said. “That experience, that footage, and knowing that there’s a mixed martial arts fight there, it’s a huge emotion. It gives you goosebumps. It’s amazing.”
UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili airs Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+. Order now!
Shevchenko, meanwhile, likened the incident to the fights that erupted when groups resumed live performances in front of audiences after months of no-shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For an athlete to compete in their first event at the Sphere is unheard of, it’s a big event,” Shevchenko said. “It has a very special meaning. It’s the same feeling I had when I competed in my first event in Jacksonville after the pandemic. [at
UFC 261]”And the atmosphere there was mind-blowing. It was so huge. And I’m hoping for something similar or even bigger with Sphere.”
Once the fight begins, Shevchenko will likely not care about all the glamour and glamour of the arena, a sentiment shared by most fighters who must focus on their opponent above all else.
“It’s very hard to imagine what the fight will be like, what it will feel like, because you definitely have tunnel vision when you’re in a fight,” Shevchenko said. “You can’t see anybody’s faces, you can’t see what’s going on around you, you can’t see anything. You can’t really hear people. So it’s hard to imagine, but when you look back and see what it was like on tape, you see how big of a deal it was, how big a deal it was.”
