UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2

UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 16, 2023 (2023-09-16)
Venue	T-Mobile Arena
City	Paradise, Nevada, United States
Attendance	18,766 [1]
Total gate	$2,265,537.16 [1]
Event chronology
UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Gamrot

UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 (also known as UFC Fight Night 227, UFC on ESPN+ 85 and Noche UFC) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 16, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ^[2]

Background

The event celebrated Mexico's independence Day, which included having a variety of fighters of Mexican descent compete at the event; the concept rode the coattails of Las Vegas having traditionally hosted major boxing matches involving Mexican fighters on or around Independence Day. ^[3]

A UFC Women's Flyweight Championship rematch between current champion Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko headlined the event. ^[4] The pair previously met at UFC 285 in March 2023 in which Grasso captured the title via a fourth round submission upset. ^[5]

A welterweight bout between Shavkat Rakhmonov and former interim UFC Middleweight Championship challenger (also The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winner) Kelvin Gastelum was expected to take place at the event. ^[6] However, Gastelum withdrew after sustaining a facial fracture. ^[7]

A middleweight bout between Chris Curtis and Anthony Hernandez was expected to take place at the event. ^[8] However, Curtis withdrew due to a rib injury and was replaced by Roman Kopylov. ^[9] In turn, Hernandez pulled out of the bout due to a torn ligament and was replaced by Josh Fremd. ^[10]

A welterweight bout between Daniel Rodriguez and Santiago Ponzinibbio was expected to take place at the event. ^[11] However, Rodriguez was pulled from the bout by USADA after testing positive for the banned substance ostarine. ^[12] Ponzinibbio then announced in early September that he would not be competing at the event after all. ^[13]

A women's strawweight bout between Elise Reed and Cynthia Calvillo was expected to take place at the event. ^[14] However, Calvillo pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Iasmin Lucindo in a catchweight bout of 120 pounds. ^[15] In turn, Reed was removed from the event for undisclosed reason and was replaced by Josefine Lindgren Knutsson. ^[16] Then, Lucindo withdrew from the event due to an undisclosed injury and newcomer Marnic Mann served as her replacement. ^[17]

A lightweight bout between Natan Levy and Alex Reyes was scheduled for the event. ^[18] However, Levy withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and he was replaced by newcomer Charlie Campbell. ^[19]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Women's Flyweight	Alexa Grasso (c)	vs.	Valentina Shevchenko	Draw (split) (48–47, 47–48, 47–47)	5	5:00	[lower-alpha 1]
Welterweight	Jack Della Maddalena	def.	Kevin Holland	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Raúl Rosas Jr.	def.	Terrence Mitchell	TKO (punches)	1	0:54
Lightweight	Daniel Zellhuber	def.	Christos Giagos	Submission (anaconda choke)	2	3:26
Featherweight	Kyle Nelson	def.	Fernando Padilla	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)	3	5:00
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Women's Strawweight	Lupita Godinez	def.	Elise Reed	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	3:30
Middleweight	Roman Kopylov	def.	Josh Fremd	KO (punch to the body)	2	4:44
Flyweight	Edgar Chairez	vs.	Daniel Lacerda	No Contest (premature stoppage)	1	3:47	[lower-alpha 2]
Women's Flyweight	Tracy Cortez	def.	Jasmine Jasudavicius	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Charlie Campbell	def.	Alex Reyes	TKO (punches)	1	3:38
Women's Strawweight	Josefine Lindgren Knutsson	def.	Marnic Mann	Decision (unanimous) (30–24, 30–25, 30–27)	3	5:00

1. For the UFC Women's Flyweight Championship.
2. Originally a technical submission (anaconda choke) win for Cháirez; overturned after review due to a referee error.

^[20]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. ^[21]

• Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
• Performance of the Night: Raúl Rosas Jr., Daniel Zellhuber, Lupita Godinez, Roman Kopylov, and Charlie Campbell

See also

• 2023 in UFC
• List of current UFC fighters
• List of UFC events

References

1. Mike Bohn (2023-09-17). "Noche UFC post-event facts: Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko fight to rare title draw". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
2. Staff (2023-06-24). "Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2 UFC flyweight title rematch set for September". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
3. "UFC to hold event at Las Vegas Sphere in 2024". ESPN.com. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
4. Abhishek Nambiar (2023-06-29). "Breaking: Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2 set to headline UFC card on Mexican Independence Day". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
5. Simon Samano (2023-03-05). "UFC 285 results: Alexa Grasso makes Valentina Shevchenko tap out, wins flyweight title in huge upset". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
6. Damon Martin (2023-06-28). "Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kelvin Gastelum set as co-main event for UFC card on Sept. 16". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
7. Nolan King (2023-07-01). "Kelvin Gastelum out of UFC fight vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov due to injury". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
8. Matthew Wells and Nolan King (2023-06-25). "Chris Curtis set to face Anthony Hernandez at September UFC Fight Night event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
9. Alexander K. Lee (2023-08-15). "Roman Kopylov replaces Chris Curtis, fights Anthony Hernandez at Noche UFC". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
10. With Anthony Hernandez out of Noche UFC, Josh Fremd steps in to fight Roman Kopylov (2023-08-23). "With Anthony Hernandez out of Noche UFC, Josh Fremd steps in to fight Roman Kopylov". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
11. Curtis Calhoun (2023-07-27). "Daniel Rodriguez vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio added To UFC's Mexican independence day card". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
12. Staff (2023-08-17). "Daniel Rodriguez announces positive drug test, out of Noche UFC fight with Santiago Ponzinibbio". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
13. Max Rhoades (2023-09-08). "Santiago Ponzinibbio out for September 16, Noche UFC: Grasso Vs. Shevchenko 2". nosmokesport.com. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
14. Nolan King (2023-07-14). "Cynthia Calvillo vs. Elise Reed targeted for UFC's Mexican Independence Day card". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
15. Nolan King (2023-08-21). "Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Aug. 14-20)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
16. Jay Anderson (2023-08-29). "Josefine Knutsson signs with UFC after all, faces Iasmin Lucindo at Noche UFC". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
17. Jay Anderson (2023-09-08). "Marnic Mann replaces Iasmin Lucindo, faces Josefine Knutsson at Noche UFC". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
18. News Desk (2023-08-10). "Natan Levy vs Alex Reyes reported for Noche UFC on Sept 16". itnwwe.com. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
19. Vipin Raghuwanshi (2023-09-08). "Noche UFC: Natan Levy out, Charlie Campbell debuts vs Alex Reyes". itnwwe.com. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
20. "UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
21. Staff (2023-09-17). "Noche UFC post-fight bonuses: 5 get additional $50,000 performance bumps". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.