Preview UFC FN: Grasso vs Araujo

  UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs Araujo

The Calm Before The Storm 

By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma

& 

Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead

            We're just about to dive in the deep end of elite Mixed Martial Arts. We're one week away from another fight island card, the home of UFC 280, a true top to bottom rager with 3 title fights and a contentious preliminary main event that will knock your socks off. But! Before all that, the rule of the dinner table says you must finish your plate and all the veggies before you get dessert. This card is a second helping of those veggies, but we'll do our darnedest to make it fun, add a little sriracha to the mix. Maybe even some A-1 steak sauce? Yeah this isn't about food, I'm not hungry while writing this, anyway, moving on. 

            1. Alexa Grasso (14-3) vs. Viviane Araujo (11-3)

                

            This main event was originally booked back in early August, sandwiched somewhere in the middle of a mild mannered UFC San Diego card, Alexa Grasso was forced to pull out due to travel restrictions. Now these ladies are headlining their own mild mannered fight card, a happen chance win in its own right. Grasso, a top 10 flyweight, is coming off a fairly quick submission of long time contender Joanne Calder-Wood. That was her third win in a row, after moving up in weight following a very controversial 'majority decision' loss to the current Strawweight Champion. She's looking to leave that loss deep in the past by notching her fourth win in a row. Her opponent, Viviane Araujo, is by no means going to make that easy. She's won 8 of her last 10, the noteworthy loss being a decision to elite flyweight Katlyn Chookagian. For Araujo the time is now, she's 35 and the vast majority of fighters ranked above her have already lost to the champ. Contrastingly, Grasso is still very much in her prime at 29 years young and win here may put her a single big win away from her first title shot, in a division made seemingly shallow by the dominance of Russian powerhouse Valentina Shevchenko. 

             Hardcore History: Grasso trains with UFC veteran Irene Aldana and the crew at Lobo Gym MMA in her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. Her desire to compete was sparked by watching her uncle, current Lobo Gym head coach, train and teach. This experience combined with her father showing her boxing techniques, lead to her first martial arts competition. Her boxing pedigree has carried her through most of her career, but her first actual competitive event was in jiu jitsu. From there she caught the bug and decided in 2012 to take on her first MMA fight. She catapulted into mainstream relevancy, winning her first 9 pro fights. For all intent and purposes, Grasso had a collaborative family unit growing up. Her opponent, Viviane Araujo, can't say the same. Scarred by domestic violence she witnessed first hand, Araujo fights on behalf of her resilient mother and women everywhere. She was born in the commercial region of Ceilândia, Brasília. Her first sports endeavor was in traveling soccer, competing far from home in part to help distance herself from the chaos of home life. She later trained jiu jitsu upon invitation from a local coach, eventually transitioning to teach. She didn't start competing in MMA until she was 28. A large part of her desire to compete being to stage her voice against domestic violence and shine a light on the women who suffer from it. She won 5 of her first 6 pro bouts, fighting in Brazil and Japan. Then in 2019, around the age of 32, she successfully made her UFC debut with a unanimous decision win over Talita Bernardo. 

            2. Askar Askarov (14-1-1) vs. Brandon Royval (14-6)

            

            Shot out of a cannon with 14 wins in a row, Askar Askarov was a surging sight to behold. Then he ran into Kai Kara-France, that was one hell of an exchange. Kai was on a brilliant streak and that night had just the right swag to stuff 12 of Askar's 14 takedown attempts, that paired with his seeming superior speed on the feet kept Askar off beat. For this fight against Royval, who has beat Kai by the way, we will look for the scrambles to show us who is going to lead the dance. Royval has only landed 2 takedowns in his last five fights, but managed to win 3 of them by submission. The other two fights were alarming losses with the current interim champ finishing him by tko and Alexandre Pantoja subbing him by rear naked choke. It must be noted, there was some controversy with the r.n.c loss where Royval was poked in the eye with no pause in the action, just to be taken down after a striking exchange and choked out. The story line here is that Royval is very scrappy, landing clever strikes off the clinch and opportunistic submissions from the scramble. I anticipate Askar leading the dance, but Royval can cut in at any point and will rally after close rounds. This should be exciting. 

            Hardcore History: How many fighters do you know that get through the regional circuit and to the premier stage for mma without being able to hear their corner's in fight instruction? How many people even compete in sports without the ability to hear? The legend Matt Hamill might be the only name that comes to mind, but it turns out there is an official Deaflympics that's been around for over 100 years, Askar won the gold medal there in wrestling. So that's pretty damn impressive. Born in the Akhvakhsky District of Dagestan, it is only fitting he started his mma career in Russia, that was around 2013 before getting promoted to Russian-based promotion Absolute Championship Berkut in 2015. One can only imagine the trials and tribulations growing up in the shark tank that is Dagestan, especially when you're born deaf. His opponent Brandon Royval had a very different experience being born in Colorado and continuing to teach bjj and train out of Factory X MMA in Englewood, CO under the tutelage of founding coach Marc Montoya. He started off his pro career in 2012 eventually winning 8 of 11 fights before running into UFC veteran Casey Kenny. He lost a hard fought decision for the LFA flyweight title. He bounced back in his next two fights via 1st round armbar, before getting signed to the UFC in 2020 during the heat of the Covid-19 crisis. 

            3. Raphael Assuncao (27-9) vs. Victor Henry (22-5)

            This fight has me very curious, mostly because of the staggering odds against long time top 5 contender Raphael Assuncao. He was on a 12-2 stretch in the prime of his career, trading victory and defeat with former champ T.J. Dillashaw, who fights for the title this month. That seems ages ago, as he has lost his last 4 fights, getting finished in 3 of them. Hence the -300 odds favoring his opponent Victor Henry, who might I add, before this year had never fought in the UFC. Victor spent the majority of his career fighting internationally, with a long stint in Japan fighting for notorious promotions Deep and Rizin. He has said he was brought in to feed the beast that is grassroots Japanese martial artists, but he failed to do so and while winning against the odds he was deemed the "Japanese Killer" by endearing Japanese fans. He now finds himself at 35 years old in a seriously cutthroat bantamweight division, making only his second UFC appearance, having debuted for the organization back in January with a unanimous decision win over Raoni Barcelos. The timing might make you scratch your head, but he has found that everything happens in its right time, and this time he has the rare opportunity to retire a very accomplished UFC veteran. Seeing as he trains under MMA legend Josh Barnett and highly favors catch wrestling, he will look to take Raphael down and submit him. This won't be easy as Raphael is also a bjj blackbelt and has only lost by submission 2 times in 36 fights. 

            Hardcore History: Raphael was born in Recife, Northeast Brazil. He immigrated to the states with his parents and brothers when he was very young, planting roots in the south and eventually settling in Atlanta Georgia where he now lives and trains. Being one of the uncommon success stories in the history of immigration, he has certainly made the most of his fortune, making a name for himself on the most elite stage for Mixed Martial Arts. His opponent, Victor Henry, grew up in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood and naturally gravitated towards professional fighting. He started his pro career in 2010 at 22 years old, fighting all over the world, including fights in Russia, Dubai and most notably his run in Japan. After the recent collapse of his hometown gym, he found safe harbor at Josh Barnett's 2017 originated U.W.F. mixed martial arts gym.