UFC Vegas 62: Grasso vs Araujo
Don’t let the hype for UFC 280 steal your attention just yet because this weekend we have two top ten flyweights Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo fighting for their chance to climb the rankings and earn a shot against one of the roster’s most dominant champions, Valentina Schevchenko.
Despite the Brazilian born Viviane Araujo making her UFC debut just over 3 years ago, she has already amassed 7 fights in the promotion and climbed her way to #6 in the flyweight division. Although Araujo is a brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, she has proven that she is a well rounded fighter by securing 3 wins via knockout, 4 via submission and 4 via decision. Not only does Araujo have the skills to back her ranking in the division, she also steps into each fight she’s had with a tremendous amount of heart. Referring to Araujo’s tough childhood in part one of ESPN’s “UFC Journey: Grasso vs Araujo” her mother says, “Viviane has suffered to get to where she is now.” Her last win was in May of 2022 versus Andrea Lee. According to her UFC stats, Viviane holds a solid 90% takedown defense, 48% striking accuracy and 60% takedown accuracy validating the fact that she is dangerous anywhere the fight ends up.
Mexico born Alexa Grasso, ranked #5 in the flyweight division, has made quite the run in the UFC since her debut in 2016, racking up 6 wins in her total of 9 fights with the promotion. Grasso originally started her UFC journey in the strawweight division where she took losses to 3 tough opponents, one being the current strawweight champion Carla Esparza. After her loss to Carla in 2019, Grasso and her team decided that it would be best for her to move up to flyweight. Grasso looked incredible against Jin Yeon Kim in her first fight at flyweight in 2020 and has been on a win streak ever since. Many people believe in the warrior spirit that lives within Mexican fighters and the Grasso familia is quite familiar with this sentiment. Pancho, Grasso’s uncle and coach, is a lifelong fighter himself. Alexa’s main base is boxing, she walked into her uncle’s gym in 2010, tried his boxing class once and from there she says that she just kept going back. Grasso then went on to win her pro mma debut in 2012. Grasso may be primarily a striker but in her last few fights we have seen her become more comfortable with utilizing her strength and grappling, winning her most recent fight via submission in the first round against the always game Joanne Wood. An evolved Alexa can be scary for the 125 division. Alexa is a purple belt in jiu jitsu with an impressive 60% takedown defense, 57% takedown accuracy & an average of approximately 5 strikes landed per minute according to her UFC stats.
Some may say that this match up is reminiscent of Nurmagomedov vs Ferguson due to the fight being scheduled twice before and never coming to fruition, until this Saturday at the UFC Apex where they will finally settle the score. I think this is a great match up for both ladies as they have an opposite base in mma but have both proven their ability to evolve as complete mixed martial artists. Alexa, the slight favorite in this bout, will have the advantage in her cardio and her sharp striking skills. Viviane will come in with better jiu jitsu and power. I expect this fight to be a great showing of MMA. Both women share only one loss via tko/submission, meaning these two are not easy to finish. Viviane is comfortable in standing with all of her opponents but she knows where her advantage is versus Grasso and I believe she will work to get the fight to the ground. Viviane has shown that cardio may be a weakness of hers in the past and I think that Alexa will use her strong takedown defense and dirty boxing in the clinch to try and tire Araujo out, if she is successful in this, I believe Grasso will piece Araujo up on the feet and secure a decision win. Grasso has shown her skills on the ground in her last few fights as well, and with those performances in mind, I just don’t see her losing on Saturday. This will be a dog fight and entertaining whether it’s on the feet or on the mat. My official prediction is Alexa Grasso via DEC! Enjoy the fights.
Prediction:
Alexa Grasso via Decision.
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