Daniel Cormier points out critical attribute Alexa Grasso has to improve to extend her title reign

Daniel Cormier (Left), and Alexa Grasso (Right) [Photo credit: Daniel Cormier - YouTube]
Daniel Cormier (Left), and Alexa Grasso (Right) [Photo credit: Daniel Cormier - YouTube]

Daniel Cormier weighed in on Alexa Grasso's spectacular upset over Valentina Shevchenko. The bout saw her submit the latter with a rear-naked choke to become the new women's flyweight champion at UFC 285.

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Cormier uploaded a video to his YouTube channel immediately following the event, where he gave his thoughts on the win. He mentioned that there are areas that Grasso could improve on if she wants to have a lengthy title reign.

He said:

"She struggled in the takedown defense and if she's gonna extend this title reign, she will have to shore that up. But she was taken down multiple times, but continued to fight. Every time she got to her feet, she did a great job of landing on Shevchenko to the point that Valentina started to make mistakes." [4:01 - 4:18]
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'DC' added that despite her takedown defense being a weakness, Grasso frustrated 'Bullet' to the point where she began making mistakes. This was especially true when she attempted a spin kick, which ended up costing her the fight. He mentioned that the final sequence of the fight was impressive, saying:

"[Alexa Grasso] squeezed so much that she squeezed the color out of Valentina Shevchenko's face....[Grasso] didn't have it under the chin but she got enough pressure going forward into the jawline that it made a woman that had held that belt essentially from its inception tap instead of just going out. That's painful." [5:06 - 5:35]
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Cormier complimented Grasso on becoming the first female Mexican fighter to win a UFC championship. She now joins Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez as active UFC champions from Mexico.

Check out the full video:

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Daniel Cormier compliments Jon Jones on becoming two-division UFC champion

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Daniel Cormier was in commentary at UFC 285 and witnessed Jon Jones join the list of legends to become a two-division champion. Jones made it look easy as he submitted Ciryl Gane to win the vacant heavyweight championship.

In the aforementioned YouTube video, 'DC' mentioned that his former rival did an excellent job with how he took 'Bon Gamin' down and submitted him. He mentioned that it's hard to deny his greatness in the sport, saying:

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"In my group with Ryan Clark and the rest of the group at ESPN, everbody's saying its undeniable. It's very difficult to deny the greatness of Jon Jones after becoming the heavyweight champion tonight. It was a phenomenal performance." [7:56 - 8:10]

After his win, 'Bones' challenged former champion Stipe Miocic and it was basically made official by UFC president Dana White for International Fight Week in July.

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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann
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