Alexa Grasso, Polyana Viana Earn Impressive Wins At UFC 258Former strawweight contender Alexa Grasso made it two for two as a UFC flyweight with a hard-fought Unanimous Decision victory tonight at UFC 258: “Usman vs Burns” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Grasso held off a late rally from the returning Maycee “The Future” Barber in tonight’s co-main event.

Also on tonight’s card, Polyana “Dama de Ferro” Viana earned her second straight first-round finish in a featured strawweight bout. Viana showcased her slick ground skills en route to submitting Malloy Martin with an armbar, and the quick victory earned Viana a Performance of the Night bonus.

 

Grasso (13-3-0) and Barber (8-2-0) battled in a clinch following an early exchange of punches, with Grasso landing knees to the body and a one-two combo. The striking exchanges remained competitive, but Grasso took a slight lead with a crisp combination and two knees to the body late in the round. Grasso hurt Barber with a right hook early in the second round, but Barber recovered quickly and she eventually took top position on the ground when Grasso fell while throwing a kick. Grasso was very active off of her back, however, and she transitioned from an armbar to an arm-triangle choke, and finally to a rear-naked choke before the bell.

Barber, perhaps sensing that she was down on the scorecards, press the action in round three with punches early on. Grasso answered with knees in a clinch, but she was taken down and Grasso chased after her with more punches after the fighters returned to their feet. Both women continued to score with knees to the body each time they clinched, but Barber secured one more takedown late in the fight to seal the round in her favour.

All three judges scored the competitive bout 29-28 for Grasso, who remains unbeaten since moving up to the flyweight division this past year. The 27-year-old now appears poised to enter flyweight title contention if she can keep the momentum going this year.

 

Earlier on the card, Viana (12-4-0) put on a submission clinic against Martin (7-4-0) before finishing her with a nasty armbar. After landing a body kick and two right hands, Viana pulled guard and used elbows to set up a triangle choke from the bottom. She switched to a triangle armbar and attacked Viana’s face with more elbows when she refused to submit. Viana switched back to a triangle choke, then sat up and transitioned to an armbar. Martin tried to break free, but Viana wrenched back on her right arm and Martin tapped out at the 3:18 mark of round one.

Though her UFC tenure has had ups and downs, Viana has won back-to-back fights and showed tonight that she is still a threat in the competitive 115-pound women’s division. All 12 of her career victories have come via stoppage, including a 2015 knockout of fellow UFC strawweight Amanda Ribas.

 

 

(Photo Credit: UFC)