Dana White and others criticize the UFC champion's performance at Noche UFC

UFC President Dana White and others made unkind comments about the Noche UFC co-main event, in which Valentina Shevchenko regained her UFC flyweight title against Alexa Grasso at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Martial arts fans want to strike, and the only thing that helps them resist the urge to kick, punch, elbow, and knee strikes is the magic of submission. There aren't many fans who appreciate the skills required to score takedowns and hold position.

Unfortunately, that's the route Shevchenko chose to reclaim her title on Saturday. Shevchenko used her superior grappling, power and overall athleticism to dominate Grasso in all five rounds of their third and likely final meeting. While Shevchenko further cemented her place as one of the all-time bests and a future Hall-of-Famer, her workmanlike approach failed to excite the crowd.

Shevchenko secured eight takedowns and had nearly 17 minutes of control on the ground. Grasso did her best to be dangerous on her back, attempting several submissions, but Shevchenko was too composed, too smart and too strong to be in any real danger. How sparse were the strikes in the co-main event?

Shevchenko and Grasso combined for 63 significant strikes. For comparison, the Fight of the Night winning bout between Estevan Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber had 277 significant strikes. I'm a combat sports fan who appreciates grappling sequences as much as striking, so from my perspective it was excellent to watch.

However, I know I'm in the minority with my diverse appetite for combat sports. During the post-fight press conference, White told the media he hoped the spectacle of The Sphere helped attract new fans to the UFC, but he also hoped they stopped watching before the Shevchenko-Grasso fight.

Responding to the lack of crowd participation in the co-main event, White also said, “You can control how much you spend producing an event, but you can't control the fights.” In fairness to Shevchenko and Grasso, White didn't seem thrilled with the action in the main event.

He said he thought Sean O'Malley seemed “shallow,” and White questioned some of Merab Dvalishvili's antics in the Octagon.

Grasso could not escape the wrath of the MMA community, receiving harsh criticism from her teammate Diego Lopes, who won his fight against Brian Ortega.

During Lopes' post-contest interview, he was asked about Grasso's performance and he said it was “frozen.” In his response, Lopes also criticized the lack of action from both fighters. You don't usually hear a fighter publicly criticize a training partner's performance, but Lopes had time early Sunday morning.

It wasn't just the fighters and White who criticized the lack of aggressiveness. MMA Junkie's Matthew Wells said Grasso lacked aggressiveness but praised the execution of Shevchenko's game plan. Longtime MMA journalist Luke Thomas called the fight “disappointing,” saying Shevchenko “didn't open up and Grasso couldn't get her to.”

Given Shevchenko's clear win on Saturday night, the few strikes she threw, and the fact that Saturday's meeting was the third between the two women, I don't think we'll ever see them fight again.

Here's a look at all the results from Noche UFC.

Noche UFC 306 main card results

• Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O'Malley by unanimous decision (48-47×2, 49-46)
• Valentina Shevchenko defeated Alexa Grasso by unanimous decision (50-45×3)
• Diego Lopes defeats Brian Ortega by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Esteban Ribovics defeats Daniel Zellhuber by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Ronaldo Rodriguez defeats Ode Osbourne by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

UFC 306 Preliminary Card Results

• Norma Dumont defeats Irene Aldana by unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
• Ignacio Bahamondes defeats Manuel Torres by TKO at 4:02 in round 1
• Ketlen Souza defeats Yazmin Jauregui by submission after 3:02 in round 1 (rear-naked choke)
• Joshua Van defeats Edgar Chairez by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

UFC 306: Preliminary results of the card

• Raul Rosas Jr. defeats Aoriqileng by unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)