After eleven months without fighting, Manon Fiorot will return to the UFC cage this weekend in Arizona for UFC Noche 4. She will face the formidable Alexa Grasso, former flyweight champion. A big test for the Nice native who would move closer to the title with a victory.
France has no UFC champion in its history. Yet, Manon Fiorot is surely the one who came closest, along with Cyril Gane.
On May 11, 2025, the Nice native nicknamed The Beast was about to face the champion of her flyweight category, Valentina Shevchenko. A victory would have allowed her to make history in French MMA. But after five rounds of fierce struggle, Manon Fiorot lost by decision, suffering her first UFC loss in eight fights.
Since then, the Azure native has taken time to rebuild her confidence. In October 2025, she won easily by TKO in the first round against Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius.
This weekend, in Arizona, she makes her return after almost a year without fighting. During the night of Saturday to Sunday, she will face Mexican Alexa Grasso. If she wins, Manon Fiorot would become a serious contender for the title again, and could hope for a rematch against Valentina Shevchenko in 2027. Otherwise, she would drop down in her category’s hierarchy, and at 36 years old, the hope of becoming the first French woman to win a UFC title would become slim.
Do not underestimate Alexa Grasso
While many MMA experts favor Manon Fiorot in this confrontation, one should not underestimate the Mexican. Alexa Grasso is a former UFC flyweight champion. She even held the belt for a year and a half.
It was in 2023 by defeating Valentina Shevchenko, who was undefeated at the time since 2017, that she became champion. Since she lost the belt in 2024, Alexa Grasso has had a more difficult period, but her last KO victory in March 2026 made headlines worldwide.
After a left hook straight to the head, she took her opponent’s back to strangle her. A combination of phenomenal speed that left her opponent with no solution, unconscious, eyes rolled back in the middle of the octagon. The UFC president, Dana White, described this KO as « one of the most beautiful combinations in UFC history. »
Today, Alexa Grasso is ranked third in the flyweight category, just behind Manon Fiorot, which means on paper, this promises to be a great fight.
Manon Fiorot: « She’s an opponent who is dangerous everywhere »
After eleven months without fighting, Manon Fiorot is eager to get back in the cage: « It’s true that this wait was long, I would have liked to fight again faster but it wasn’t possible. The UFC proposed a matchup to me a few months ago but I had to move up a weight class, so it was complicated. When I was offered Alexa Grasso I accepted right away. »
After several weeks of preparation at a training camp in Canada, Manon Fiorot feels ready, but she knows she must be vigilant: « I’ll need to be well focused, especially not make a mistake, not give my back. She’s an opponent who is dangerous everywhere, who can surprise at any moment in all aspects of the fight. I like fights where I’m like this, where I’m stressed, normally that’s where I perform the most. »
Whoever wins this fight will have a great chance of getting a « title shot, » that is, a next fight against the current UFC flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko. Like Axel Sola, from Nice, and winner at UFC Paris 2026, Manon Fiorot will want to shine. Her fight will take place around midnight, during the night of September 12 to 13.
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