UFC Fight Night 227: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 Staff Picks

A sneakily-stacked night of fights is in store for MMASucka staff picks.

UFC Fight Night 227, also titled as “Noche UFC” in celebration of Mexican Independence Day, will take place later tonight, September 16th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This comes as the promotion’s first non-pay-per-view event from the venue since The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale in July of 2017 whilst in celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Preliminary fights begin at 7:00pm ET (4:00pm PT) followed by the main card at 10:00pm ET (7:00pm PT) with all fights available to ESPN+ subscribers.

Tune in to MMASucka for live UFC Fight Night 227: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 results.

Stay tuned this upcoming Tuesday, September 19th for our staff picks from Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 7.

The Fights

In the night’s featured main event, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will rematch for the UFC Flyweight Championship through five available five-minute rounds. The two faced off in March of this year with Grasso taking the back-and-forth battle by submission in the fourth round.

Grasso’s victory came as one of the largest betting upsets in promotional history (+575), extending her win streak to five in-a-row since August of 2020 including notable victories over Maycee Barber and Viviane Araujo. The very streak for the Lobo Gym talent has come since moving up from an eight-year strawweight division run as she prepares for her first defense as Mexico’s first women’s champion. Shevchenko, Grasso’s opponent, looks to claim back the 125-pound title that she had held through seven defenses against the very best of the division. A win for the striking specialist would be her 13th in the UFC as she aims to further her established legacy as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time.

Welterweights Kevin Holland and Jack Della Maddalena bring the heat in the co-main event. The always-entertaining Holland targets his third win of 2023 after an April knockout of Santiago Ponzinibbio and a July D’Arce choke submission over Michael Chiesa. Perth, Australia’s Della Maddalena rides significant momentum with 15 consecutive victories including five since January of 2022 with the UFC after securing a 2021 contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.

18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. looks to bounce back after his first professional defeat in April as he battles former Alaska Combat Entertainment Champion Terrence Mitchell in the bantamweight division.

Also on the main card sees 2021 Contender Series contract winner Daniel Zellhuber set to fight 13-fight promotional notable Christos Giagos at lightweight and a main card opener at 145 pounds between former Fury FC Featherweight Champion Fernando Padilla and Canada’s Kyle Nelson. Find our staff picks and predictions for the main card of UFC Fight Night 227: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 further below.

RUNNING IT BACK FOR THE STRAP 🏆@AlexaGrasso vs @BulletValentina for the flyweight title tomorrow at #NocheUFC!

[ 10pmET / 7pmPT main card | Live on ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/MnfwGr6DRG

— UFC (@ufc) September 15, 2023

2023 Staff Picks

MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and/or preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.

The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.

Who wins at UFC Fight Night 227: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2?

Staff Records after Dana White’s Contender Series – Season 7, Week 6:

Ben Jamieson: 225-113Michael DeSantis: 223-115Jeremy Brand: 215-123Wesley Riddle: 214-124Nate Freeman: 212-126Frazer Krohn: 206-132Julio Monteros Jr.: 190-107Andrew Benjamin: 159-134Jack Goodwillie: 148-83Brian Knight: 137-82Tim Wheaton: 105-60Roemello Reyes: 62-34Jonathan Andrade: 31-24Brandon Joint: 12-9Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7Joshua Yule: 7-6Chris De Santiago: 6-6Antwyn Jackson: 5-6

*Note – not all staff pick for every event*

Fernando Padilla (15-4), -245vs.Kyle Nelson (14-5-1), +200

Featherweight Division– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –

Jeremy Brand: Nelson via Unanimous DecisionWesley Riddle: Padilla via Unanimous DecisionMichael DeSantis: Padilla via Round 2 TKOAndrew Benjamin: Padilla via Unanimous DecisionFrazer Krohn: Nelson via Unanimous DecisionNate Freeman: Padilla via Unanimous DecisionJulio Monteros Jr.: Padilla via Unanimous DecisionBrian Knight: Nelson via Unanimous DecisionBen Jamieson: Padilla via Unanimous Decision

Staff picking Padilla: 6Staff picking Nelson: 3

Daniel Zellhuber (13-1), -298vs.Christos Giagos (20-10), +240

Lightweight Division– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –

Jeremy Brand: Zellhuber via Unanimous DecisionWesley Riddle: Zellhuber via Split DecisionMichael DeSantis: Zellhuber via Split DecisionAndrew Benjamin: Zellhuber via Unanimous DecisionFrazer Krohn: Zellhuber via Round 3 SUBNate Freeman: Zellhuber via Split DecisionJulio Monteros Jr.: Zellhuber via Unanimous DecisionBrian Knight: Zellhuber via Unanimous DecisionBen Jamieson: Zellhuber via Unanimous Decision

Staff picking Zellhuber: 9Staff picking Giagos: 0

Raul Rosas Jr. (7-1), -800vs.Terrence Mitchell (15-3), +550

Bantamweight Division– 135 LBS. ~ 61.2 KG. –

Jeremy Brand: Rosas Jr. via Round 2 SUBWesley Riddle: Rosas Jr. via Round 1 SUBMichael DeSantis: Rosas Jr. via Round 1 SUBAndrew Benjamin: Rosas Jr. via via Unanimous DecisionFrazer Krohn: Rosas Jr. via Unanimous DecisionNate Freeman: Rosas Jr. via Round 1 SUBJulio Monteros Jr.: Rosas Jr. via Round 2 SUBBrian Knight: Rosas Jr. via Round 2 SUBBen Jamieson: Rosas Jr. via Round 2 SUB

Staff picking Rosas Jr.: 9Staff picking Mitchell: 0

Kevin Holland (25-9), +110vs.Jack Della Maddalena (14-2), -130

Welterweight Division– Co-Main Event –– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –

Jeremy Brand: Della Maddalena via Unanimous DecisionWesley Riddle: Della Maddalena via Unanimous DecisionMichael DeSantis: Holland via Unanimous DecisionAndrew Benjamin: Holland via Split DecisionFrazer Krohn: Holland via Unanimous DecisionNate Freeman: Holland via Unanimous DecisionJulio Monteros Jr.: Holland via Unanimous DecisionBrian Knight: Holland via Unanimous DecisionBen Jamieson: Della Maddalena via Round 3 TKO

Staff picking Holland: 6Staff picking Della Maddalena: 3

Alexa Grasso (16-3), +142vs.Valentina Shevchenko (23-4), -170

Women’s Flyweight Divisional Championship– Main Event –– 125 LBS. ~ 56.7 KG. –

Jeremy Brand: Grasso via Unanimous DecisionWesley Riddle: Grasso via Unanimous DecisionMichael DeSantis: Grasso via Split DecisionAndrew Benjamin: Grasso via Unanimous DecisionFrazer Krohn: Shevchenko via Round 5 SUBNate Freeman: Grasso via Split DecisionJulio Monteros Jr.: Shevchenko via Round 4 TKOBrian Knight: Shevchenko via Round 3 TKOBen Jamieson: Shevchenko via Unanimous Decision

Staff picking Grasso: 5Staff picking Shevchenko: 4

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 227 FEATURED IMAGE:

Embed from Getty Images