Did Alexa Grasso knock out or submit Maycee Barber in the finish of the year so far at UFC Fight Night 271?

“I think it was both,” the former UFC champ said after Saturday’s spectacular first-round win over Barber at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, which earned Performance of the Night honors.

Grasso (17-5-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC) got the best of both worlds in a performance for the ages. She crumbled Barber (15-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) with a huge punch in the opening minutes of the women’s flyweight bout before snatching the neck for a rear-naked choke in lightning-quick fashion while her opponent was seemingly already unconscious.

Grasso left viewers in awe with the stellar sequence, and she said she was pleased to show what she can do when healthy after going winless in her past three bouts against Valentina Shevchenko and Natalia Silva.

“Of course it’s always hard to have two losses in a row,” Grasso told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 271 post-fight news conference. “I’ve never experienced that before. But injuries are part of the journey. But healthy Alexa is very different than Alexa with injuries. I’m super happy that all my injuries healed and I’m better. I’m back.

“I trained so well this fight camp. It was very, very tough. It was very hard. I wanted to get the finish. Of course my jiu-jitsu game was the first point I wanted. I wanted to finish her, but of course my boxing is always there and I’m super glad it worked.”

After a tough stretch of results, there were questions if Grasso, 32, had lost her championship-level form. She proved she’s still dangerous as ever, and in her mind the win starts the path back to the top.

There’s a clear fatigue in seeing Grasso fight reigning 125-pound champ Shevchenko after three fights and more than 70 minutes in the octagon together. Grasso understands more work needs to be done to generate interest, but she is 1-1-1 in her series with Shevchenko and will be chasing the closure of a fourth fight.

“That would mean the world to me,” Grasso said. “Dream come true. Of course. I don’t know how many fights I need to be a contender again, so I’ll do my job and continuing training. I need – I don’t know how many wins – to be in a championship fight, but that’s the goal again.”

For her next step, Grasso is eyeing an octagon return at Noche UFC in September. She was not able to participate in the 2025 version of the event, but now the timing lines up for the Mexican Independence Day showcase, and Grasso is hopes the UFC brings the event to her home soil.

“I just wait for the matchmaker to tell me when and who,” Grasso said. “I would love UFC to bring Noche UFC to Guadalajara. That event started with me so it would truly mean the world to me to bring the best MMA event to my city where I train every single day. Hopefully it can happen this September in Guadalajara.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alexa Grasso chasing 4th Valentina Shevchenko fight after UFC Seattle