Noche UFC Grasso Shevchenko 2
Alexa Grasso defends her UFC women's flyweight title against former longtime champ Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of Noche UFC on Saturday in Las Vegas.The fights at T-Mobile Arena are on ESPN+, with the 10 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 7 p.m. The Noche UFC event is the promotion's celebration of Mexican Independence Day.
Grasso (16-3) has won five fights in a row, most recently a fourth-round submission of Shevchenko in March that earned the Mexican her title. Grasso is No. 3 in the ESPN women's pound-for-pound rankings.
The second-ranked Shevchenko (23-4) had won nine straight prior to the loss to Grasso, including seven defenses of the 125-pound title she won in 2018.
How to watch the fights
Watch the fights on ESPN+:Get ESPN+ here.
There's also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday's UFC fight card
ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET
Welterweight: Kevin Holland vs. Jack Della Maddalena
Men's bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Terrence Mitchell
Lightweight: Daniel Zellhuber vs. Christos Giagos
Men's featherweight: Fernando Padilla vs. Kyle Nelson
ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET
Strawweight: Loopy Godinez vs. Elise Reed
Middleweight: Roman Kopylov vs. Josh Fremd
Men's flyweight: Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
Women's flyweight: Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Lightweight: Alex Reyes vs. Charlie Campbell
Strawweight: Josefine Knutsson vs. Marnic Mann
Ian Parker's betting tip
This will be the first time since Shevchenko's fight against Amanda Nunes in 2017 that she will be less than a 2-1 favorite. Many people will lean Grasso, as they believe Shevchenko is on the downslide of her career based on her past two fights. However, we have not seen the last of Shevchenko. And up until that mistake in the first Grasso fight, she was winning and gaining momentum as the fight continued.
For Parker's suggested bets on the main event and other fights on Saturday's card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). It also features analysis by UFC strawweight Angela Hill and UFC flyweight Erin Blanchfield as well as ESPN's other betting expert, Reed Kuhn.
