“When I go into the fight, I have tunnel vision,” Shevchenko said. “I don’t see what’s happening around me. I don’t see anyone’s face. I don’t see anything. I can barely hear people, so it’s hard for me to imagine that. But when you look back and see what it was like on tape, it’s like you’re there and you understand how big the event was.”

Since losing her belt to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 in March, Shevchenko has been on the hunt to get it back. She regained the belt in 2018 after defeating Joanna Jędrzejczyk, and became the most dominant champion the women’s flyweight division has ever seen, successfully defending her belt seven times.

WATCH: Grasso vs Shevchenko 1 | Grasso vs Shevchenko 2

Six months after Shevchenko lost to Grasso, the two went head-to-head in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day at Noche UFC. The outcome is one that is still talked about today, as the fight ended in a draw, meaning Grasso still retained her belt. Sure, the result was painful for Shevchenko, but it gave her even more energy for their third fight. And she feels even more confident now that she knows the game plan she had in place last time worked.

“Our previous fight, that fight I won and only by an interesting decision of a judge, it went to a draw,” Shevchenko said. “If you ask the world of combat sports, everyone who knows about fighting, all the judges and everything, they definitely saw me win in the fight. I think it’s good for everyone and you see me win in the second fight, so it’s a bit like sticking to the same game plan, doing the same thing, being myself and winning the fight.”