Alexa Grasso appreciates her place in history ahead of UFC 306 title trilogy fight

The spectacle that figures to take hold of The Sphere, where UFC 306 takes over the unique Las Vegas event space this weekend — timed just ahead of Mexican Independence Day on Tuesday — has been promoted during CEO Dana White’s recent media barnstorm to lean heavily into telling the narrative of Mexico’s famed combat sports history.This marks the second September in a row in which Noche UFC promises to celebrate in Nevada the United States’ direct neighbor along the southern border, and that budding tradition comes packaged once again with the lone current champion from Mexico, Alexa Grasso, defending her title against ex-champ Valentina Shevchenko.Historic as flyweight titleholder — Grasso is on her own as the first woman from her nation to win UFC gold — she and Shevchenko will forge history for their gender as well in the organization’s first trilogy fight between two women when they square off in the co-main event Saturday (10 p.m., ESPN+ pay-per-view).“It means a lot,” Grasso recently told The Post regarding her historic three-fight series.“It’s showing how hard I’m working.

I love to put everything I have in every single fight, and this is the result of all these years of hard work.”Grasso-Shevchenko III isn’t a rubber match, though, as Grasso won the first last March via fourth-round submission and then salvaged a controversial draw in last year’s rematch.As such, Grasso could exit the octagon Saturday having never lost in three consecutive matchups against her rival; she could also find herself knotted with Shevchenko at 1-1-1 if the title changes hands.In that way, their series could wind up the same as Grasso’s countryman and fellow 125-pounder Brandon Moreno during his UFC-first tetralogy against Deiveson Figueiredo, a series that covered 25 consecutive months of their careers before Moreno won the finale to gain a 2-1-1 career edge.It’s not a thought Grasso (16-3-1, six finishes) prefers to entertain — but she expec...