LAS VEGAS -- Valentina Shevchenko's game plan against Alex Grasso Saturday at Sphere in their women's flyweight title fight in the co-main of Noche UFC at Sphere couldn't have been more obvious. Shevchenko clearly wanted Grasso to spend as much time of the 25 minutes as possible on her back.
It didn't lead to an entertaining fight and it certainly took a lot of steam out of the room at Sphere after an electrifying open to the main card.
But Shevchenko lost her title to Grasso in their first fight when Grasso submitted her in a fight Shevchenko had been controlling. Then, Grasso kept the title in the rematch when the bout was a split draw. One judge improperly scored the final round 10-8 for Grasso. Had it been a 10-9, Shechenko would have won a split decision and gotten her belt back.
Instead, it was a split draw and as champion, Grasso kept the belt.
Saturday, though, Shevchenko hit 8 of 14 takedowns and had 14:49 of control time in grinding out an ugly but obvious unanimous decision to regain her title. All three judges had it 50-45 for Shevchenko.
The fight was terrible to watch and had the crowd restless. Shevchenko would take Grasso down and then do little other than old her there. Grasso tried for submissions off her back, and had a guillotine in the fourth round, but there was never much doubt how it was going to wind up.
It was a long journey for Shevchenko, who had won nine in a row before running into Grasso.
There was little doubt Saturday despite the pall it cast on the crowd. The brilliant production and the outstanding fights had the Sphere rocking, but the Shevchenko-Grasso bout sucked the life out of the room. But Shevchenko's job is first and foremost win and she did that in dominant fashion on Saturday.