Former UFC women's flyweight champion Alexa Grasso took an impressive step toward a shot at regaining the top spot by outpointing one-time title challenger Manon Fiorot in a competitive and action-filled clash of elites at Noche UFC on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in Grasso's favor.
The bout between two fighters in the ESPN women's pound-for-pound top 10 was on the undercard of an event headlined by featherweight Jean Silva's third-round submission win over late-replacement opponent Jose Miguel Delgado, who is from nearby Phoenix. Silva had to mount a comeback after getting dropped during a first round in which he threw just five strikes.
But it was the women's fight that had the evening's biggest stakes. The UFC will crown a new champion at 125 pounds when Natalia Silva faces Wang Cong on Oct. 3 for the title recently vacated by the injured Valentina Shevchenko.
Grasso will be waiting for the winner -- quietly.
"You guys know me, I don't talk too much," Grasso, No. 10 in the pound-for-pound rankings and No. 5 at 125 pounds, said after her second victory in a row since a three-fight winless run following her upset of Shevchenko for the title in 2023. "I work hard, and when it's coming, it's coming. And I will get that belt back one day."
Grasso (18-5-1) separated herself early against Fiorot (13-3) with her aggression. She put Fiorot on her heels from the start, getting in her face with accurate and effective punch combinations. Grasso connected with nearly 50% of her significant strikes in the first round, including a right hook that dropped Fiorot with less than 40 seconds to go before the horn.
And so it went for the better part of two rounds.
"Boxing is my signature," Grasso said. "We always try to represent our Mexican culture in the boxing style. And that's what I did."
Grasso, who is from Guadalajara, Mexico, has competed at three of the four Noche UFC events, which are held annually to commemorate Mexican Independence Day. In both of Grasso's previous appearances, she fought Shevchenko in title defenses, a draw in 2023 and a loss in 2024.
Fiorot, a French woman ranked sixth by ESPN in pound-for-pound rankings and No. 2 at women's flyweight, got her offense going as the fight wore on, opening a cut next to Grasso's right eye in the final minute of Round 2 and getting the better of exchanges in Round 3. But her surge came too late.
Fiorot (13-3) has lost two of her past three, the other loss coming in a title challenge against Shevchenko in May 2025.
In the main event, Silva (18-3) started slow but turned up the aggression in Round 2, getting a takedown and maintaining control on the canvas for over a minute. Then, during an exchange of punches midway through the third round, Silva floored Delgado with a right hand and pounced on his fallen opponent, quickly sinking in a one-handed rear-naked choke and eliciting the tapout at 2 minutes, 57 seconds.
Delgado (12-3) was a replacement for Mexican fighter Yair Rodriguez, who withdrew three weeks ago because of an unspecified injury. Delgado came in having won nine of his past 10 fights.
For Silva, who was more than a 4-1 betting favorite, it was his second straight victory after his 13-fight winning streak was halted last September. He celebrated by leaping over the cage, taking off his gloves and handing them to UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell -- with a message for Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev, who will fight for Volkanovski's 145-pound title on Oct. 24.
"Whoever holds that belt, the next champion is right here," Silva, No. 6 in the ESPN featherweight rankings, said through a Portuguese interpreter. "There's a new champion in town."
Earlier on the card, there was another fight between fighters in an ESPN divisional top 10. Curtis Blaydes, No. 10 at heavyweight, beat sixth-ranked Waldo Cortes Acosta by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in a crowd-displeasing bout with little action. Blaydes (20-6, 1 NC) won his second in his past three fights on the strength of four takedowns on 10 attempts. He landed only 24 significant strikes to 28 for Cortes Acosta (17-4), who lost his second in a row after a three-fight winning streak.
