Credit: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
Our debate for Female Fighter of the Year 2023 was basically a two-horse race between PFL women’s featherweight champ Larissa Pacheco and UFC women’s flyweight champ Alexa Grasso (with Erin Blanchfield a third option, but a dark horse candidate). Both had spectacular years, with Alexa Grasso already having won our Upset of the Year award. Read on to see who locked up Fighter of the Year!
Fighter of the Year 2023: Female
Eddie Law: Alexa Grasso Even though she went into UFC 285 with a four-fight win streak Grasso was still a big underdog against the seemingly unbeatable Valentine Shevchenko. Four rounds later Grasso scored arguably the biggest upset of the year by submitting “Bullet” and then taking her to a tough draw 6 months later. The young Mexican queen has a bright future ahead of her.
Gabriel Gonzalez: Alexa Grasso. The shift between March and September for Alexa Grasso was quite the swing to say the least. She opened 2023 with an Upset of the Year to stop the long-reigning Valentina Shevchenko that saw her need to rally for the victory. When she headlined the Mexican Independence Day card, she entered the cage with an air of confidence that showed she had come into her own as the champion and delivered with a gritty performance against Shevchenko again.
Jay Anderson: I had actually convinced myself that the pick was Alexa Grasso, until I gave more thought to Larissa Pacheco. Pacheco made history in 2023 by becoming the PFL’s first two-weight champ, winning at lightweight in 2022 (and dethroning Kayla Harrison in the process) and featherweight a year later. She sits on a ten-fight win streak with seven finishes and won all four of her fights in 2023. That includes a win over ex-Bellator featherweight champ Julia Budd. Pacheco has proved her cut by the UFC in 2015 was premature, and has become a budding star for the PFL.
If Grasso had won her second fight with Valentina Shevchenko, I likely would have given her the nod. But it ended in a draw, and I feel like that tips the scales to Pacheco.
Jamie Theodosi: Erin Blanchfield. Despite Erin not being champion (yet), she has had a more impressive year than both the current female champions. Weili only defending once this year, and Grasso finishing the year on a draw eliminate them from my female fighter of the year.
Val Dewar: Alexa Grasso. This award is less clear than some others, mainly due to the draw between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. Had Grasso won, she would have run away with this award, but instead she has competition, mainly divisional rival Erin Blanchfield.
Blanchfield’s win over Andrade was impressive, but her decision win over Taila Santos was her elite-level win of the year, which was less impactful than Grasso’s finish over the GOAT of their division: Valentina Shevchenko. For that alone, and a hard-fought draw in the rematch, Alexa Grasso is the female fighter of the year.
Cade Morehouse: Alexa Grasso has had quite the year in 2023. She finished one of the greatest of all time in Valentina Shevchenko. Alexa Grasso had to take the rematch with Valentina and won a close decision to retain her title. Beating Valentina once is a huge thing in itself but to do it twice is remarkable.
Patrick McCorry: Alexa Grasso. Massive upset, competitive draw against Valentina in the rematch, trilogy has to happen.
Shawn Bitter: Larissa Pacheco. For the second straight year Pacheco won the PFL featherweight tournament. She went 4-0 for the year.
End Result: Alexa Grasso was a heavy favorite here, with just three dissenting votes — two for Larissa Pacheco and one for Erin Blanchfield. Which has Alexa Grasso winning our 2023 Fighter of the Year award on the women’s side of the sport!
