In Photos: Valentina Shevchenko sweats it out in training with Noche UFC fast approaching

Valentina Shevchenko recently shared a host of snaps from an intense training session, as she prepares for upcoming title bout against Alexa Grasso.

Shevchenko and Grasso will be attempting to settle their rivalry in a trilogy bout at UFC Noche (UFC 306), which takes place on Sept. 14 at the Las Vegas Sphere on Mexican independence day.

The pair stepped into the octagon against one another twice in 2023, with Grasso shocking the world in the first bout by submitting 'Bullet' to win the women's flyweight title. They then ran it back last September and Grasso retained the belt, however, it was due to a highly controversial split-draw that many thought Shevchenko should have won.

With their upcoming bout now expected to settle the story between the two MMA stars once and for all, Valentina Shevchenko has provided an update on her fight preparations with a series of photos on Instagram. She captioned the post:

"👊👊👊 #UFC306"

The first photograph shows the 36-year-old getting her hands wrapped, as she prepares for an intense sparring session at her gym in El Paso, Texas.

The second photograph sees Shevchenko sitting down on the canvas after sparring, with the former champ attempting to take off her glove tape with her mouth:

The last snap shows an exhausted Valentina Shevchenko taking a breather after finishing her session, taking a moment to process what she may have just learnt:

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When Valentina Shevchenko responded to her critics regarding her 'no-water' policy during training

Earlier this year, Valentina Shevchenko felt the need to defend herself, after a clip of her from season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) went viral.

'Bullet' was coaching opposite her upcoming opponent Alexa Grasso on the show, where she was tasked with training and coaching a host of upcoming fighters.

During the first episode, Shevchenko was then shown laying out her ground-rules to the fighters on her team, which included them not being allowed to drink water until they had finished their training.

Following the episode's release and the backlash she received, Shevchenko took part in an interview with MMA Today (via MMA on Sirius XM), where she outlined her reasons behind the 'no-water' policy. She said:

"I just explain to them that they are wrong because they don't have this analyzing mindset. They only hear what someone is saying. They don't do the research. They don't try to find out the reason behind it. They hear from someone and don't have the power to analyze. They only repeat; they don't want to go deeper, and this is wrong."

Check out Shevchenko's comments here: