UFC Atlantic City: Boardwalk Hall; AC, New Jersey
Now the female flyweight division seems to have its path marked for the rest of 2024. After a big shutout unanimous decision victory; 50-45 3x Manon Fiorot wants one thing. A title shot. But both Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso are locked up officially as the new coaches on TUF. Dana White confirmed earlier this month the season starts the first week of June. Putting the champion and former champion on hold till the fall/winter. So here’s how the beast compares to both women.
Beacuse of her discipline and size she’ll try to control the action the way she did against Erin Blanchfield. Using her jab and counters. But if she thinks she can snag the title from either by just one-punching, she has another thing coming.
Yes, Fiorot has power in both hands and maintains a high volume (see the 130-plus significant strikes tonight). However Grasso loves to mix it up and has a solid chin. And Schevchenko is one of the best all-around martial artists period. Even if she is starting to slow down.
How The Beast Compares To What’s Left In Front Of Her
Blanchfield’s chin and hear kept her upright for the five-rounds. Outside of Fiorot’s single takedown which got herself locked in a guillotine. While her does have a bjj black belt, she’ll need to come in close to the others. And that’s where she can get clipped. Although she is now on a 12-fight win streak overall, she has not been cracked on the chin solidly. Or faced a pace that Grasso will provide.
“Bullet” has not had a problem with counter strikers, plus she’ll mix in feints. And her footwork is actually crisper than Fiorot’s. She won’t stay on the centerline and get pop-shotted. Schevchenko will also throw more kicks to Fiorot’s long torso.
The only real success that Blanchfield had was from her back in the opening round, and when she came forward with abandon in rounds two and five. Fiorot will face more of that against Grasso and Bullet. It’s what usually happens when a good big fighter fights a good smaller fighter. But the other two are next level.
But that’s only if that is her next scrap. She took take the next 8-10 months hard training, or possibly take another fight instead. And that’s a hard cross road to be at. While one should always believe in one’s abilities, you don’t really want to take a huge risk in losing that number one slot. One slip up, one bad scorecard, one something can sink her plans. It’s a tough call if she truly thinks about it.
Then again you don’t want to fight for a title coming off of any type of layoff.
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