Media Was Valentina dominating before she lost?

[nostradumbass]

Many people were scoring it 2-2. To claim that she was dominating is silly. Regardless, Grasso was well prepared, had a good plan and Shev gave up in the fourth. You can't spin quiting.

Who the hell had Grasso up in the 4th before the finish? There was 25 seconds left and Valentina was up 22-13 in strikes.

 

[drbolony]

Uh yes she was ahead on all rounds. 2-2 not a chance. She took her down at will at was winning the standup. She was clearly winning that fight before the mistake.

Took her down at will? You must have missed all the stuffed take downs in the fourth. If She was winning the stand up, then why did Alexa turn her into a panic wrestler? Did you see Shev's knees? She was diving HARD. Though she did enough enough to win rounds 2 and 3, Alexa never gave up position on the ground, and made Val fight for every position and her cardio showed that in the 4th.

The success Alexa had in this fight had nothing to do with one mistake, but rather a series of hard fought battles of attrition that frustrated the former champ, which culminated in her throwing an I'll advised back kick against the fence. Had Alexa been the one against the fence, that would've been an excellent decision, because she'd only have two directions to move, so 50% chance of landing. Val throwing it against the fence showed frustration, she gave herself nowhere to go. I'm the open space she would've had more room to work.

Alexa won with a well executed game plan and a series of small wins, not a single mistake.

Not discrediting Grasso but Valentina did look like she's off; speed, reaction, choices she made in that fight

But then yet again Grasso does have good striking.. that might have made Val looked bad

Or maybe it's these 2 factors idk

Anyway before this fight, it's the first time we saw Valentina ending up in bad positions and losing the grappling exchange with Talia

I think it's a combination of both. She's in her mid 30's, she was going to slow down eventually. First thing athletes lose is their insane reactions and her insane counter game relied on them a lot. Either way, everyone counted out Alexa (including myself) and she got it done. She deserves her flowers.

Who the hell had Grasso up in the 4th before the finish? There was 25 seconds left and Valentina was up 22-13 in strikes.

That last minute was going to resonate with the judges, had Val survived, Alexa was still close to finishing, threatened with a sub, and had control time.

Not to mention the stuffed TD's earlier in the round.

 

[Prince Nephilim]

Cheating..? I missed that.. what did she do to cheat,

There was in “inadvertent” foul from Val. I forget the sequence…but it reminded me of when Val was losing to that Brazilian chick and she head butted her with that dolphin head of hers and completely swole her eye.

 

[drbolony]

If a fight is over 5 rounds, you're not dominating winning rounds with an effort that you can't sustain 'til the end.

Same goes for Izzy vs Poatan.

I'm an Izzy fan, probably top 2 in this forum, that said, I didn't even think Izzy was dominating. Comfortably winning 3-1 sure, but Izzy was never safe in there.

There was in “inadvertent” foul from Val. I forget the sequence…but it reminded me of when Val was losing to that Brazilian chick and she head butted her with that dolphin head of hers and completely swole her eye.

I forgot about that, damn, you've got me wanting to go back and watch some Val fights. I can't believe I'm saying this, it feels really grimey, but...I might agree with Chael (fuck), Val may actually be a real life heel. A female Jon Jones in the way she presents her self image (minus the drugs/PEDS, arrests, and domestic violence).

 

[L0ki]

I knew she won a round and the other 2 were close.

She could be right in that she was winning.

One Sherdog judge had it 29-28 Val and the other 2 judges had it 30-27 Val.

 

[Dr Brian Pepper]

Who the hell had Grasso up in the 4th before the finish? There was 25 seconds left and Valentina was up 22-13 in strikes.

Lets assume Val survives

No chance she gets that round with her back taken and a rnc being threatened like that

Even if she got out and they ended back on the fight, it would have been Grasso round

I think Val can win because she saw she could take her down and hold her down at will, and is just going with that

 

[7 others]

There was in “inadvertent” foul from Val. I forget the sequence…but it reminded me of when Val was losing to that Brazilian chick and she head butted her with that dolphin head of hers and completely swole her eye.

I see.. I can't recall the foul but the headbutt in the Talia fight does not make val look good

 

[SpinningElbowEnjoyer]

2-2 if she didn't get finished. Best "striker" in WMMA was panic shooting. It was comedy

The best striker in wmma with only one recorded knockdown in 15 fights

 

[cheesus]

Definitely not dominating but I think she was winning, she was soundly controlling the grappling exchanges and the striking exchanges were pretty even but Grasso was landing the more damaging and impactful shots. I had it 2-1 to Valentine, Grasso still had time to win that fight even if it went to a decision. Valentina really needs to adjust her attitude and mindset if she thinks she was dominating that fight because she could very likely lose again. I was pretty surprised how badly she was defensively to some of Grassos shots, wasn't reacting at all, no head movement, standing in front of her a lot. I expected her to look a lot better but the reality is she's getting older. She's had a massive career in martial arts.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Uh yes she was ahead on all rounds. 2-2 not a chance. She took her down at will at was winning the standup. She was clearly winning that fight before the mistake.

What? Are you saying you thought Val won every round?

Grasso won the first round. All three judges scored it for her, and rightly so. It was close, but Grasso did more. Shevchenko won the 2nd and 3rd rounds mainly based on grappling. But had Val survived Grasso's choke, she was probably going to lose the fourth. If the fight had gone to the fifth, it would have been 2-2.

 

[Mentallooser]

I dunno if domination is a good descriptor, but she has found the range on her jab, and was having some level of success in the grappling department. The win seemed like a bit of a foregone conclusion if she didn't do something stupid...like expose her back...like she did against Santos with those throw attempts.

We will see if she learns her lesson or not next time. She doest have a ton of time left.

 

[HHJ]

The best striker in wmma with only one recorded knockdown in 15 fights

How many 125 lb females have alot of knockdowns?

 

[Ayreon]

Defending the title too many times leads you to be conservative.

Hope now she finds the motivation to be more active during the fight.

 

[Street Bishop]

I feel like her head has been so far up her own ass these last 2 fights. Hopefully she comes in this deluded for the rematch so we can see Grasso end her chin.

 

[Prince Nephilim]

I see.. I can't recall the foul but the headbutt in the Talia fight does not make val look good

Notice how fouls from Val only appear when she loses her edge in a fight…just like with Talia

 

[King Joffery]

If by dominating you mean panic wrestling then yes, yes she was.

 

[drbolony]

Defending the title too many times leads you to be conservative.

Hope now she finds the motivation to be more active during the fight.

She would have to change her whole style, she made a career out of being a counter striker. Training with Joanna could help her with this. I know she has about 4 W's over her, but Joanna is very much more of an aggressive pressure fighter. Maybe Joanna can give her some pointers on this approach whilst keeping her tight defense. If not there are a plethora of coaches in Thailand, she just needs someone who can implement MT into MMA.

 

[CleverNameEh]

How would you have it 3-1? Grasso won the first, and you couldn't really give Val the fourth if she had managed to survive it.

I said/meant IF 4 had continued going as it was pre submission, without the submission event ever occuring.

Up until that point in the 4th, val was winning the 4th. So at that point in time is was on it's way to being 3-1.

 

[CleverNameEh]

Thank God ur not a judge. It was 2-2 OBVIOUSLY

Prior to the sub, it was Val winning the rd. That's all i meant. At that point, it was looking like it was on it's way yo being 3-1.

AFTER the sub, had Val survived it, THEN it would have been 2-2.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

She was absolutely dominating that fight. 1 mistake all it took but she was winning that fight everywhere especially with the takedowns

I seen a different fight, look at them between rnds, Val was looking marked up and tired, she looked a step behind in the stand up and was tagged repeatedly. She resorted to a positional control heavy game.