MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a deeper look at the main event of UFC Vegas 62, a five-round women’s flyweight bout between Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo. The event takes place on Saturday, October 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Alexa Grasso (-205)
Grasso (14-3) is the No. 5 ranked women’s flyweight. The 29-year-old Mexican has been in the UFC since 2016 and she’s 6-3 so far inside the Octagon, including notable wins over Joanne Wood, Maycee Barber, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. After starting her career at 115lbs, Grasso moved up to 125lbs last year, and since then, she’s a perfect 3-0 and has overall looked great. Grasso has always been known as one of the top strikers in her division, but she showed in her last fight against Wood — a first-round submission win — that she is also improving her grappling game. Given she is still on the right side of age 30 and already has plenty of experience, there’s a lot to like about Grasso in the present and into the future. A win over Araujo would be big for Grasso as she looks to make a title run at 125lbs, which is very possible to do in a shallow division like women’s flyweight.
Viviane Araujo (+175)
Araujo (11-3) is the No. 6 ranked women’s flyweight. The 35-year-old Brazilian joined the UFC in 2019 and since then she is 5-2 overall in the Octagon, with notable wins over Andrea Lee, Alexis Davis, and Roxanne Modafferi. Araujo is a very well-rounded fighter who is skilled both on the feet and on the ground. She definitely prefers to stand and trade, and we’ve seen great striking out of her throughout her UFC run, but she is also very strong on the ground. Overall, there is a lot to like about Araujo, and she certainly has all the tools to make a run for the UFC women’s flyweight belt. She will have to get past Grasso in this fight, but if Araujo can pull off the upset, it will put her in an excellent position to make a move up the rankings, in a division always looking for new contenders.
Fight Breakdown: This should be a good fight between two of the top strikers in the UFC women’s flyweight division. I’m expecting both ladies to stand in the center of the Octagon and strike with each other for the majority of this fight, which I believe likely goes the distance. While Araujo is a highly-skilled fighter in her own right, I believe Grasso is the deserved favorite here and I believe she will get her hand raised in this fight. Over the course of the five rounds, I see Grasso landing more significant strikes and therefore winning more rounds on the judges’ scorecards. I believe it will be a competitive bout, but at the end of the 25 minutes, look for Grasso to win the decision. She is one of the top up-and-coming women’s flyweights, and a win over Araujo could very well be enough for Grasso to get a title shot against the UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Prediction: Alexa Grasso
