UFC 306 results: Merab Dvalishvili wrestles his way to bantamweight title win

September 14, 2024 Jack Wannan NEWS
Image Credit: UFC

Quick results

Main Card (10 p.m. ET) (PPV)

  • Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
  • Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Flyweight Championship)
  • Diego Lopes def. Brian Ortega via Decision, Unanimous
  • Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber via Decision, Split
  • Ronaldo Rodriguez def. Ode Osborne via Decision, Unanimous

Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET) (ESPNews / ESPN+)

  • Norma Dumont def. Irene Aldana via Decision, Unanimous
  • Ignacio Bahamondes def. Manuel Torres via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:02)
  • Ketlen Souza def. Yazmin Jauregui via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:02)
  • Joshua Van def. Edgar Chairez via Decision, Unanimous

Early Prelims (7:30 p.m. ET) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)

  • Raul Rosas Jr. def. Aoriqileng via Decision, Unanimous

Merab Dvalishvili wrestles his way to the UFC Bantamweight Championship

Merab Dvalishvili’s wrestling-heavy style proved to be a nightmare for Sean O’Malley, earning the Georgian fighter a unanimous decision win to become the new UFC Bantamweight Champion.

Dvalishvili’s five-round performance headlined UFC 306, the promotion’s debut event from The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The game plan for Dvalishvili remained the same throughout the fight: Take O’Malley to the ground and control him on the canvas. Apart from some slight hiccups, including a fifth-round scare, the plan worked. Dvalishvili got O’Malley to the mat frequently over the course of 25 minutes, stopping the champ from unloading with the slick striking skills that made him one of the division’s best names.

Dvalishvili remained active when on the ground, mainly peppering O’Malley with short ground and pound shots. By the end of the fight, he scored a significantly higher volume of strikes overall than O’Malley.

O’Malley’s striking remained a threat for Dvalishvili even until the closing minutes of the fight, as demonstrated by a fifth-round scare that caused Dvalishvili to retreat. The defending champ visibly hurt Dvalishvili in the late moments of the bout, connecting with a series of kicks to the body. Dvalshvili was able to run out the clock and avoid finding himself even more hurt on the feet.

Dvalishvili entered Saturday as the top-ranked contender in the bantamweight division with an impressive 10-fight winning streak under his belt. The New York-residing fighter had a trio of big wins in recent years to solidify his status as one of the top 135-pound fighters, getting past former champs Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo.

O’Malley was aiming to extend his title reign past a second appearance as champ. “Suga” O’Malley rose to prominence with a fan-friendly striking style, taking down one name after another with highlight-reel performances.

He first captured the division’s bantamweight title last year, scoring a second-round finish against Aljamain Sterling. The Arizona resident defended his title for the first time in March with a one-sided win against Marlon Vera, out-landing him over the course of five rounds to avenge his first pro loss.

Valentina Shevchenko regains UFC flyweight title in one-sided outing

Valentina Shevchenko is back on top of the flyweight division.

The longest-reigning champ in women’s flyweight history regained her title on Saturday night and ended a long-standing saga against Alexa Grasso, sweeping scorecards in a decision outcome.

Shevchenko used her wrestling to control Grasso through all 25 minutes of action. She scored a takedown in every single round of the fight, utilizing positions on the ground to stop Grasso from putting together any attacks. Official UFC statistics show that Shevchenko notched more than 15 minutes of control time, roughly three combined rounds of solely ruling the fight on the mat.

Grasso provided some threats off her back with grappling, at times trying for triangle chokes or armbars. However, nothing she ever did came close to finishing Shevchenko or even giving her a round on scorecards.

Shevchenko is now back on top of the flyweight division a year-and-a-half after her initial 1,547-day, eight-fight run as champion came to a close.

Grasso scored a massive upset win early last year to dethrone Shevchenko, submitting her in the fourth round of a fight via rear naked choke. The duo were rematched at last year’s Noche UFC card, but controversially left with a split draw result after 25 minutes of action. A year later and after serving as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, they appeared on the second-ever Noche UFC card as well.

The win for Shevchenko on Saturday puts an end to a long-standing rivalry in the division, opening up the opportunity for other rising contenders to get a shot at the belt. The weight class has developed long list of rising names ready for a chance at the champ, including Manon Fiorot, Erin Blanchfield, and former strawweight champ Rose Namajunas.

Noche UFC delivers with stunning visuals

Heading into the title fights, visuals provided by The Sphere have been tonight’s clear top discussion. While the short preliminary card had some people convinced the visuals would be underwhelming, the venue has kicked it into another gear since the pay-per-view started.

Through the short film airing tonight, titled “For Mexico, For All Time,” and the visual atmosphere that has been presented in the background during fights, the general consensus from viewers is that the show has been a stunning presentation so far.

Check out a few of the looks of the night below, plus a clip of the film series:

Diego Lopes shuts out third-ranked featherweight Brian Ortega

Diego Lopes is expected to receive a significant jump in UFC’s official featherweight rankings next week after overcoming former title challenger Brian Ortega in a decision result.

13-ranked Lopes overcame third-place Ortega, possibly putting the fast-rising featherweight as high as the division’s top five by next week.

Lopes put together three strong rounds of stand-up striking against Ortega to take a comfortable decision win. He had the notoriously tough Ortega in trouble many times throughout the fight, including a rough opening round where he seemingly came close to a finish at one point.

A fight between Ortega and Lopes was expected to take place in June as part of UFC 303, however, the bout was scrapped after Ortega withdrew due to illness.

In an incredibly rare turn of events that night, contender Dan Ige stepped up to face Lopes on just a few hours’ notice. Lopes emerged victorious in that fight, beating Ige on scorecards.

Ortega scored his first win since 2020 earlier this year, beating Yair Rodriguez via submission. The defeat on Saturday means he has won just two of his five fights since an unsuccessful title challenge against Max Holloway back in 2018.

Esteban Ribovics takes decision nod following hectic third round

Esteban Ribovics left the Sphere with a win on Saturday after a close three-round stand-up battle against Daniel Zellhuber, including one of the most hectics rounds to take place this year.

Ribovics and Zellhuber were locked in a close battle for the first two rounds, causing the fight to be tired with a score of 19-19 on a pair of scorecards. The lightweights would trade shots on the feet, going back and forth without any moments that seemed to put either fighter in trouble. However, business picked up significantly in the bout’s final five minutes.

The fight ended with a bang, as both Zellhuber and Ribovics had big moments in the last round. Zellhuber started the frame with a knockdown, connecting with a hard elbow that stunned Ribovics.

Ribovics recovered and had an even bigger sequence later in the round, hounding Zellhuber with punches after hurting him with a right hand. Zellhuber was warned by referee Jason Herzog to defend himself and mainly used constant head movement to remain in the fight.

Zellhuber was able to recover from the damaging moment and even started to land his own shots, although it wasn’t enough for him to win the fight on the scorecards.

Ribovics has now put together a trio of wins since he dropped his UFC debut in 2023. Earlier this year he had a quick performance, stopping Terrance McKinney in 37 seconds with a head kick. Mexico’s Zellhuber saw his three-fight winning streak come to an end on Saturday.

Ronaldo Rodriguez kicks off main card with comeback victory

Ronaldo Rodriguez opened the main card with a clear “Fight of the Night” contender performance, overcoming a rough opening round to sneak by Ode Osbourne with a unanimous decision result.

After being on the brink of defeat early in the fight, Rodriguez was able to regroup and earn the second and third rounds of the fight. Rodriguez survived a scary opening round, where he survived a knockdown and a submission attempt that followed shortly after.

Osbourne connected with a clean right hook that collapsed Rodriguez early in the first round. Then, after failing to end the fight with ground and pound, Osbourne attempted to pursue a triangle choke. Rodriguez surprisingly endured the sequence and took full guard, where he remained for the rest of the round.

The fight’s momentum swung the way of Rodriguez in the second round, due to an overwhelmingly dominant performance on the ground. Rodriguez escaped a guillotine choke which Osbourne pulled guard to pursue, then started to unleash ground and pound and search for submissions.

After a pair of rounds that were easy to score, the final round was a much closer contest. Osbourne out-landed Rodriguez on the feet but lost a crucial ground position late in the round, allowing Rodriguez to spend the final moments throwing shots from full guard.

Rodriguez was coming off a successful UFC debut from February, submitting Denys Bondar with a rear naked choke.

The tough loss for Osbourne was his third consecutive defeat over the past 13 months.

Prelim results: Ranked flyweight Norma Dumont scores win, Kelten Souza puts on upset performance

Norma Dumont significantly out-landed Irene Aldana despite being on her backfoot for three rounds, earning a unanimous decision win from her volume-striking performance. Former bantamweight title challenger Aldana had to deal with a nasty cut on her forehead during the fight’s final round, a massive injury that was sustained due to an accidental clash of heads. Dumont has now attained back-to-back wins since moving back down from featherweight.

The undefeated UFC run of Manuel Torres came suddenly crashing down on Saturday night, as opponent Ignacio Bahamondes knocked him down twice en route to a first-round stoppage win. Just over a minute after Bahamondes floored Torres with a counter right, the same shot knocked him down once again and forced a stoppage. Torres entered Saturday following a strong start to his UFC career, scoring a trio of first-round finish wins since 2022. Bahamondes is now on a two-fight winning streak, with his previous appearance being a quick performance against Christos Giagos.

Ketlen Souza scored the first big upset of the night, piecing together an impressive sequence to put away Yazmin Jauregui in the first round. After dropping Jauregui with a clean left hook, Souza took the back of the strawweight talent and put her to sleep with a rear naked choke just three minutes into the bout. Souza entered Saturday as a notable underdog, with sportsbooks placing her as high as +390. She now has back-to-back wins in the UFC, with her previous appearance being a decision victory over Marnic Mann.

Joshua Van had a hard-fought win early in the night, getting past tough Edgar Chairez to get back into the win column. The three-round flyweight clash included a wild sequence during the second round, where Chairez possibly prevented himself from being finished on the feet by connecting with a spinning backfist. Van apologized for his performance afterward, noting that he took the fight on short notice to replace Chairez’s original opponent, Kevin Borjas. The former Fury FC champ was getting back into the cage just two months after suffering his first UFC loss two months back, getting finished by Charles Johnson.

Raul Rosas Jr. performed like the massive favorite that sportsbooks predicted him to be, using a mix of ground control and striking skills to defeat Aoriqileng via unanimous decision. While the stand-up exchanges between the bantamweight were close at times, Rosas Jr. had absolute control of the fight in the first and third rounds after taking Aoriqileng to the mat. The 19-year-old fighter, UFC’s youngest active roster member, is now on a three-fight winning streak over the past year.

About Jack Wannan 363 Articles
Jack Wannan is a journalist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He writes and reports on professional wrestling, along with other topics like MMA, boxing, music, local news, and more. He graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]
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