Performing large-strain rolling of initially ultrafine-grained copper obtained by eight passes in equal-channel angular pressing, a brass-type – rather than a copper-type – texture was achieved. Clearly, the deformation mechanism is different in ultrafine-grained materials for subsequent rolling. Using the viscoplastic self-consistent polycrystal model, we find that the deformation mechanism is associated with the activation of partial {1 1 1} 〈1 1 −2〉 slip and with a reduced quantity of geometrically necessary dislocations that lead to near Taylor polycrystal deformation conditions in ultrafine-grained copper.