ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto speaks with flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield after UFC 285 where Alexa Grasso upset Valentina …
what’s up guys Brett okamoto with UFC flyweight Aaron blanchfield who I did just see in um in Las Vegas but uh you did a little bit of media you did a media scrum backstage at UFC 285 you were saying that um you know I’m ready for Valentina I think I’m going to be next I want her an international fight week yes she’s fighting Alexa Grosso here in about an hour but I just don’t see where Alexa can win even though it is MMA you were given Alexa credit but I mean obviously Valentina was a massive favorite it was a big upset um and then you went out to uh your seat in the arena I didn’t speak to you the rest of the night what was the rest of your night like like once you came back and sort of said what you said when I saw you at that press Chrome um what was the rest of your evening like in Las Vegas I didn’t go out or anything uh crazy like that um but um yeah definitely my thought process were different you know Alexa she had a really good game plan um but I was watching her she was just she was fighting really smart and um the first round I felt like she did really well especially when she went Lefty and then she came out and kept doing that and um you know Valentina was taking her down but Valentina looked tired and Alexa didn’t look like on her game so yeah that fight definitely went way different than I thought so where were you sitting for the fight uh I was sitting on the floor maybe like two three rows back what was kind of going through your mind as both of them were walking out oh I was just excited to see uh like I should be there for that fight because I feel like when you’re able to actually watch people like in person you can kind of get a whole feel for like how they’re feeling how the arena is and like it was just so cool to experience that like in person not just watch it on TV um so yeah it’s definitely pumped to be there and excited to like feel that energy so like I said in the in the sort of pre-fight press conference thing that you came to uh into the back um you said that you thought Valentina was going to win as they were walking out were you pretty sure like in your heart were you just like Valentina is about to win and then you’re almost just like what did you think was gonna like what did you think was about to happen you know yeah uh I definitely was still confident that Valentino was gonna win when they were like walking out um you know once the fight and even before that like I thought Alexa was gonna give her a bite like I knew Alexa was sharp and I knew that she could definitely get Valentina um but kind of what was happening during the fight like how Valentina was like taking her down and kind of controlling her is kind of what I thought was gonna happen I didn’t think Valentino was gonna be like tired as she was and Alexa wasn’t really scrambling as much um when she in like maybe the second and third round then that board round she started like scrambling more when Valentina would take her down that’s kind of I think what kind of gave her that opening um did it kind of play with your emotions a little bit because like I mean obviously we saw it with Stipe right that everybody kind of knew Steve was next and then he became like he was basically doing media from that point forward as soon as John Won did you kind of think that that was what was going to happen with you after Valentina one um you know I I didn’t really know what to expect never really been in this position before um so I I didn’t really know I just knew that it Valentina did win it was very likely that I’d be next um and even you know I mean obviously there’s always a chance that she wasn’t and she didn’t win that night but um I know I’m still in a great position even if I had to fight again uh in order to get that title but um you know I’m young and I definitely could use the experience so you know it definitely was like oh man okay it won’t be like next but I’m like this close I would just think it would play with your emotions because like you go there and you’re almost kind of like I mean I don’t know if you did this in your own head but I think most of us would just be like okay well if Valentina wins like what if what if she said something about me what if like Joe Rogan asks her about me what if the cameras pan to me like I’d just be thinking about like am I gonna get like pushed into this narrative a little bit and then all of a sudden it’s like she gets tapped out I just I just would feel like it was like um it’d have like some kind of emotional impact on you but not really like you just kind of took it in stride yeah I tried I didn’t see it to be honest I didn’t really think of that too much if they would ask her about me or if they would pan to me I guess I was just kind of like taking everything as it came like I didn’t even know I was gonna do media when I got there I guess maybe I just I think I just try not to think of it too much I try not to get in my head I kind of just let my natural like reactions a thing happen um and just kind of enjoy it at the moment but um but yeah when she lost I mean and I know there’s always it’s a fight so there’s always a chance that you could have lost I definitely thought it was going to be unlikely um but I tried not to wrap my head too much around like oh title fight next I don’t think because you not like I knew like I wouldn’t know till Saturday night like what was gonna happen so I really tried to like I feel like all the media ahead of that was like oh or you want the title x what like everyone was asking me um so I tried to kind of like keep real myself back a little bit and be like I know I need to wait till Saturday to see what really happens what do you think happened in the fight like do you think that Valentina overlooked her do you think Rosso was just better than we thought do you think that she took advantage of one tiny little mistake that Valentina made or do you think that that she maybe Valentine was flat I mean just like what as as you kind of rethink the fight in its entirety what do you think happened I think it was a combination of things I think Alexa honestly collects a lot of credit I feel like in her team like her game plan seemed very smart like coming out Lefty uh definitely messed with Valentina I could tell she wasn’t as comfortable I was like striking with her I think that’s why she was shooting that much and but also valentina’s cardio didn’t seem the same as it in future like past fights like I’ve never been there in person to see your fight but I can tell being there like seeing her face was like slush red and she definitely looked kind of tired even in the second round so I feel like she didn’t seem in like as good shape as she usually is and then Alexa’s game plan was just very smart and I think it was smart of her like I think she could I think she could have won the fight maybe even a little quicker if she had scrambled out of the takedowns as much as she did that last one that kind of led to the to the Finish I think she kind of accepted them a little bit um but I think her scrambling out of like that last takedown that Valentina got in her um kind of wearing Valentina out definitely um helped her get that finish as someone who obviously has a lot of skill in the grappling Department how do you Scout both of their individual uh grappling abilities yeah um valentina’s was kind of exactly what I thought you know she she would take Alexa down kind of just like hold her there she’s very like a positional Grappler she’s she’s very happy with just like taking you down and holding you and pinning you like she doesn’t really look for many submissions I think she’s not very confident looking for them because she’s worried about losing position where um Alexa is a little bit she’s a little of a faster Grappler like she kind of want to create scrambles so she can maybe catch you in something so I think their their style of Jitsu is very different that um I guess I’m calling them a mistake I don’t know if it’s a mistake but um her her spinning kick and what Alexa capitalize on and then I don’t know if you’ve seen it but later on like these videos came out where they had seen that like like that was something they could take advantage of is that something that you had ever scouted or had you not gotten a long for far enough to like um game planning for Valentina that you you had seen that before no it’s funny I actually have talked about that with my coach before because I obviously like bouncing has been championed by weight class forever um so whenever she fights we always kind of like look at it and like if I especially if I don’t have a fight coming up we’ll kind of like talk about it and she throws it so predictively and she doesn’t really set it up so I can see exactly like we kind of saw what they kind of saw too um I never like drilled it as much as she did after obviously because she actually had the fight against her um but but that opening was definitely there and that was very smart of them to like kind of drill that into Alexa so she could kind of just do it naturally in the fight you’ve obviously been so confident in every step of your UFC career and you were you were saying that you were confident that you would be Valentina and I believed that you were confident after seeing her in that fight though is it hard not to be more confident that you’re like yeah I could be Valentina like did you did you do you have more confidence after what happened than you did before or is it was it as as high as it was I I would say my confidence is the same because Alexa did exactly what I would want to do like kind of you break her down and drill whatever you feel like uh could beat her with and go and do it and execute it and that’s why I feel like I do against anybody if I had a fight Alexa for the championship she wins again um so I feel like my confidence is pretty much the same like what you did is smart and that’s why every Friday should do you know you break down your opponents you train for it and you execute um what do you think will happen in the rematch I don’t know it’s pretty tough to say because Valentina was when I would say she was probably winning the fight like even on the scorecards uh before the Finish um it depends I feel like maybe Valentino I don’t know why but she didn’t seem as and cardio is good as good shape as it usually is so if she comes into the final little better cardio and kind of keep up what she was doing before the finish I think she could win if she kind of comes in the same does the exact same thing she always does I feel like summoning um are you disappointed at all that you weren’t you couldn’t have gotten that chance you could have been the one that beat Valentina that ended her Title reign is there any source of disappointment in that yeah of course I mean of course I would have loved to be the one to do that um but you know Valentine has been a champ for a long time I think she was champ maybe like maybe right when I got out of high school or so so like it’s been a long time so I knew that the chances of that happening would be like relatively slim but I was getting closer and she was still the champ but still super dominant so I I felt like it was uh possible but um you know I know I’m still gonna win that title and it’ll just be just as sweet when I get it so do you think would it is Valentina someone that you you kind of feel like I have to fight her though like let’s say even if she were to lose to Alexa like if you’re a champion you’re just like I have to fight her I have to share the octagon with her or do you not really think about it in those terms uh you know I wouldn’t be like oh I have to but I I think it would definitely be sweet and I feel like she she’s probably gonna stay around even if she does lose again because she’s gonna still want to like you know build a couple more wins and get back in that title talk um so I feel like if she does do that then I’ll definitely fight her and um you know she said she’s such like a vet that I definitely love to have that bite yeah yeah for sure so I guess obviously the big question now is what’s what what happens moving forward I mean you you had said already that you probably wouldn’t want to wait until like the end of the year to take another fight so where’s your mind at have you have you talked to the UFC yet what do you think is going to happen next I haven’t really talked yet um with the OC about it but I mean I would still love to fight in the summer like yeah I would still love to fight on International fight week even if it was like maybe another like title Eliminator uh kind of fight um or at some point because I’m not sure when they’re gonna rematch uh I mean they just fought recently so I’m not really sure but um I mean even if I got it to fight on the same card maybe that they rematched on would be something would be really nice just so it kind of lines up um but I definitely I don’t think I’d want to wait because that’d be a while I definitely like to get in there again yeah I mean just kind of I mean this sport sort of follows a little bit of a pattern a system matchmaking and I would imagine that they would put you on the same card just to line up timelines and to have a backup you know in case something were to happen um and to me it would you would be one of the names involved and I think it’d probably be Manon fjor um and also Talia Santos is in there um but it just kind of seems momentum wise it would be you and manone is that is that kind of what you would expect at this point that’s definitely what I expected we’re like top like three or four now um so I think yeah me and been known for a title Eliminator makes a lot of sense okay so the last thing I’ll ask you is um Scout manone for me a little bit what do you think the fight looks like between you and her oh you know my own stuff she’s a good Striker um I don’t think there’s much more to her game um like her her last fight I know it’s like Caitlyn she took her down like once kind of just a to like win the round um but I know when I’m in there and after a good training camp I’d be able to be here wherever well it’s uh it’s great talking to you like I said I I plan on speaking to you this week and the conversation was um it got changed you know big time on Saturday but that’s why you know these fights you never know what’s going to happen you can’t plan for the future too much and uh I look forward to your Next Movement I guess um you know maybe we’ll know it and then we’ll see you in New Jersey because even if you’re not fighting in New Jersey I imagine you’ll probably head over to Newark and see that card potentially yeah oh yeah I’ll definitely go over and walk so far that’s super close to my house there you go all right well we’ll see you in May and until then uh we look forward to see what you get booked for thanks Sarah yeah thank you on you streaming Sports and 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