Erin Blanchfield willing to fight Manon Fiorot next following controversial Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso rematch at Noche UFC: “I thought Valentina won”
Erin Blanchfield says she’s willing to fight Manon Fiorot next following the controversial Valentina Shevchenko vs Alexa Grasso rematch at Noche UFC.
Noche UFC took place this past Saturday, September 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Headlining the event was flyweight title bout between Valentina Shevchenko (23-4 MMA) and Alexa Grasso (16-3 MMA). The end result was a split draw in their title fight rematch.
Erin Blanchfield (12-1 MMA), who was in attendance for the match-up spoke to ‘The Schmo’ about who should be next to fight for the title:
“I feel like I definitely should be next. I feel like trilogies sometimes can clog up the divisions. Putting in some new blood for the title would be super helpful. I know Manon (Fiorot) is right behind me, so if anything, I could beat her up, too, if they did do a trilogy next. But I want to be next.”
Manon Fiorot (11-1 MMA) is on an 11-fight winning streak, her latest victory coming via way of unanimous decision against Rose Namajunas (11-6 MMA) earlier this month.
It’s true that many are calling for a trilogy fight between ‘Bullet’ and Grasso, but Blanchfield feels she’s deserving of a shot at the title.
Continuing, ‘Cold Blooded’ reflected on the fight this past weekend saying:
“That was a crazy fight. Sitting there, I thought Valentina won. I thought she did enough. I’ll definitely have to watch it back and see, but crazy fight. … I think she did (win 48-47). I’d have to watch it back to kind of remember what happened each round and see what girl capitalized on what. But in the moment, I thought Valentina won.”
It was judge Mike Bell, giving Grasso a 10-8 in Round 5 which ultimately led to a draw on his tally.
Erin Blanchfield concluded by saying she doesn’t agree with Bell’s scoring (h/t MMAJunkie):
“I don’t think it was a 10-8. Valentina was maybe covering up for a little bit too long. It did look bad in the moment, but I don’t think it was a 10-8.”
Were you watching this weekend? Do you believe the Shevchenko vs Grasso fight was scored correctly?
Would you like to see a trilogy fight between Shevchenko and Grasso or do you agree with Blanchfield that ‘new blood’ is needed?
Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
