Valentina Shevchenko Vs. Alexa Grasso Title Bout Added To UFC 285 In March

KEY POINTS

Valentina Shevchenko will defend the women's flyweight championship against Alexa Grasso at UFC 285
UFC 285 will be headlined by Jon Jones vs. Cyril Gane for the UFC heavyweight title
The UFC has also announced more fights for its March 4th offering

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has added another world championship bout to its upcoming UFC 285 card this coming March 4th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Just days after it was announced that UFC 285 would be headlined by Jon Jones vs. Cyril Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title, the promotion announced that the women's flyweight strap would also be on the line, with defending champion Valentina "Bullet' Shevchenko taking on challenger Alexa Grasso.

Considered one of the UFC's most dominant champions today, Shevchenko captured the flyweight title back in 2017 and will be going for her eighth title defense.

A highly-decorated combat sports athlete with pedigrees in Muay Thai, kickboxing, boxing, taekwondo and judo, Shevchenko made her UFC debut back in 2015 and has only lost twice in 14 fights under the organization's banner, both to two-division champion Amanda Nunes.

Shevchenko has recorded notable victories over the likes of Sarah Kaufman, Holly Holm, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Julianna Pena, Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, Jennifer Maia and Jessica Andrade.

Grasso, on the other hand, has reeled off four-straight victories to earn a shot at the title.

A former Invicta FC standout, Grasso came to the UFC in 2016 with an undefeated 8-0 record.

Inside the Octagon, Grasso has defeated the likes of Randa Markos, Maycee Barber, and former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

UFC 285 has become arguably the most talked-about event early into 2023, with rumors and speculation floating around as to which fight would end up becoming the event's headliner.

Even as early as late 2022, fights like Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones and Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman III had been linked to the UFC's March 4th offering, but none of those bouts actually came to fruition.

Instead, in a bombshell announcement over the weekend, UFC president Dana White announced that they had let Ngannou walk after failing to come to terms with a new deal.

Ngannou was then subsequently stripped of the UFC heavyweight championship, paving the way for the company to book Jones vs. Gane for the vacant title.

According to the UFC's official website, the following matches are booked for the aforementioned live event: