The night has finally arrived for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to stage a one-of-one historic pay-per-view (PPV) event, as UFC 306 “Noche UFC” goes down later TONIGHT (Sat., Sept. 14, 2024) inside T-Mobile Arena The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. Headlining the monumental event will be Sean O’Malley defending his Bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili. In the co-headlining act, Alexa Grasso will defend her women’s Flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy title fight.
What’s Hot:
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I will be the first to admit that I was not drinking the Sean O’Malley Kool-Aid everyone was sipping on early on in his career, as many were dubbing him one of the future posterboy’s for the promotion. Now six years into his UFC career, “Suga” has more than silenced all the doubters and critics (myself included) who didn’t give him much of a chance to ever be that successful inside the Octagon, much less win a world title. With a record of 10-1-1, O’Malley isn’t done adding to his legacy, going as far as to say he’s close to surpassing Conor McGregor as the sports biggest star. With a win tomorrow night, he could very well be correct. “Notorious” hasn’t competed in ages, and the opponent that he did have lined up has finally moved on. There is no telling when McGregor returns, but his stock has taken a huge plunge and O’Malley is on the rise. That said, “Suga” needs to be laser-focused, and forget all the praise because his next challenge could be the toughest of his career.
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When he first stepped foot inside the UFC cage back in 2017, Dvalshivili was on his way to becoming another fighter who had major success in the minor leagues but couldn’t swing the bat in the majors, dropping his first two fights. Since then, however, the wrestling specialist went back to the lab and worked on refining his tools, and what happened was a run like no other, racking up 10 straight wins with his last three coming over Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, and Jose Aldo, all former world champions. He parlayed that success into his first-ever title shot, which he would have probably gotten a lot sooner had it not been for his teammate, Aljamain Sterling, holding the belt. Now that “Funkmaster” is fighting at Featherweight, Merab has the chance to fulfill his own championship dreams, and he has the tools to do it. In order to do that, he has to avoid O’Malley’s laser-like strikes, which will eventually land because the champion towers over him and has a distinct size advantage. Merab’s best bet is to take the fight to the ground and grind out a decision win. No one will ever confuse him for a world-class striker or jiu-jitsu ace, and that’s just fine with him. He knows what works for him and he will continue to do so all the way to the top.
What’s Not:
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Look, it’s a decent card, but because Dana White was determined to remind everyone just how much money he spent to make this one-of-kind event come to fruition, you sort of expected a bot more of a stacked card. Not saying that the main card is complete trash, it’s not. But for the amount of hype White has been giving it, you’d think a bit more flavor would've been added. That said, I, as well as everyone else need to realize that White was talking about production value, not necessarily putting together a mega-card. I’m not saying it won’t deliver. In fact, it probably will and the combat world can’t wait to see just what kind of presentation the promotion has up its sleeve. Again, we’re talking strictly about the “name value” needed to bring in the PPV buys, especially since your going up against the boxing king down the street. I would’ve thought that White and Co. would have done their best to convince Yair Rodriguez and Brandon Moreno — two former champions and perhaps the biggest Mexican stars on the roster — to fight at this event.
Original Card vs. Actual Card
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A Middleweight bout between Anthony Hernandez and the promotion’s wild man, Michel Pereira, was scheduled for this event before the bout was moved to headline an upcoming “Fight Night” event on Oct. 19. Also, a Flyweight fight between Edgar Chairez and Kevin Borjas was in line to take place on this historic card before Borjas withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Joshua Van. Chairez is currently 1-1-1 inside the Octagon — an odd record to say the least — and was last seen defeating Daniel da Silva via submission earlier this year. As for Van, he had his eight-fight win streak snapped by Charles Johnson two months ago, the first loss of his UFC career.
Injuries:
No injuries were reported for this event
New Blood:
No newcomers are slated to make their promotional debut at this special event.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
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Former women’s Bantamweight title contender, Irene Aldana, bounced back nicely after getting dominated by Amanda Nunes with a win over Karol Rosa, and now the Mexican-born striker is out to build on that momentum. Currently ranked No. 5, Aldana is set to do battle against Norma Dumont (No. 8), who is scorching hot with four straight wins, winning seven of her last eight fights. For Dumont, facing high-caliber fighters isn’t anything new because she is coming off a win over former Featherweight champion, Germaine de Randamie. A win over Aldana puts her into the Top 5 and gets her closer to her first-ever shot at a UFC title.
In the Lightweight division, Ignacio Bahamondes and Manuel Torres collide in a battle of up-and-coming talent out to make a mark. Bahamondes is coming off a spectacular head-kick knockout win over Christos Giagos (see it again here), but highlight-reel finishes aren’t anything new for Torres because he has finished 14 of his 15 opponents. But you know what makes that more impressive? He has defeated them all in the very first round. In short. Bahamondes has to keep his head on swivel because if Torres catches him slipping it will be an early trip to the showers for him.
After suffering the first loss of her career at the hands of Denise Gomes via 20-second knockout at UFC 290 (see it again here), Yazmin Jauregui bounced back by securing a unanimous decision win over Sam Hughes. The Mexican-born Strawweight wants to keep her momentum going with a win over Ketlen Souza, who secured her first UFC win by defeating Marnic Mann shortly after she was submitted by Karine Silva in the very first round in her UFC debut, damaging her knee in the process (see it again here).
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Raul Rosas Jr. recently said he’d hope to retire by the time he is 25-years old, and since he is just 19 years of age, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. But that is neither here nor there at the moment because the task at hand is trying to score a third straight win when he meets Qileng Aori in the center of the cage. Aori is just 3-3-1 under the UFC banner, so “The Mongolian Murderer” wants to escape mediocrity by pulling off one of the biggest wins of his career. As for Rosas, he is 3-1 in his young UFC career, so he is doing pretty good for a 19-year old. Sure, the loss to Christian Rodriguez slowed his roll down a bit, but “El Nino Problema” is still being talked about more than Rodriguez is, so he really didn’t lose a whole lot when it comes to publicity. Still, he needs a win here in order to keep it going for himself if he wants to accomplish his goals in the fight game.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
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Ode Osbourne has yet to rack up more than three straight wins during his five-year run with the promotion, which has equated to a 4-5 record so far. To make matters worse, he is riding a two-fight losing streak and has lost three of his last four fights, and has been stopped in every single one of his losses. If he loses his third straight fight when he goes up against Ronaldo Rodriguez, it could be the end of his UFC journey. And a win against “Lazy Boy” will be hard to come by because the main is absolutely on fire, coming in on a six-fight win streak, winning 12 of his last 13 including an amazing UFC debut win against Denys Bondar earlier this year (see it again here).
Interest Level: 8/10
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In the co-main event of the evening, Valentina Shevchenko will once again attempt to reclaim the women’s 125-pound title she held for so long before she was stopped by Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 in March 2023. In the rematch, she fought hard and came close but the fight was ultimately scored a split-draw, allowing Grasso to keep the belt. Now, “Bullet” is in a sort of must-win situation because if she loses to Grasso, another title fight won’t come so easy at 125 pounds. She can always move up to Bantamweight or drop down to Strawweight, but a Flyweight fight won’t be happening anytime soon, especially if Grasso is still champion. On that note, a win for Grasso is a great opportunity to shine on a card dedicated to Mexican fighters. and it will break her away from Shevchenko once and for all and allow her to focus on some new blood.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes were supposed to fight at UFC 303 before “T-City” bowed out of the fight with an illness just hours before showtime. Thankfully, Dan Ige stepped in to allow Lopes to get a fight, even it was on super-short notice. Now, Lopes will finally get the chance to put hands on Ortega, and this one has the opportunity to be an all-time great fight. That’s because Lopes has quickly become one of the most popular fighters in the game today thanks to his aggressive and exciting style. He stumbled out of the UFC gate, losing his debut to Movsar Evloev, and then proceeded to secure three straight first-round finishes before beating Ige via decision.
A win over Ortega puts Lopes (No. 13) into the Top 10, maybe even the Top 5 since “T-City” is currently ranked No. 3. On that note, Ortega is coming in refreshed after submitting Yair Rodriguez (see it again here), snapping his two-fight losing streak in the process. If he can stop Lopes’ momentum, he will be right back into the thick of the championship title race, all while reminding everyone that he is far from done.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
One of the fastest rising Lightweight prospects is Daniel Zellhuber, winner of three straight fights after losing his UFC debut. He is coming off a unanimous decision over Francisco Prado earlier this year, and a fourth straight victory gets him closer to a ranked spot. His opponent, Esteban Ribovics, is coming in with immense confidence after he nearly knocked Terrance McKinney’s head clean off in just 37 seconds this past summer (see it again here). This bout is my favorite to win “Fight of the Night” honors.
Earlier I mentioned that the main card was lacking, and it is for a PPV, but there’s still considerable intrigue and buzz over what fight fans will see at Noche UFC. Will the promotion deliver on its promises of it being the “greatest combat sports show of all time?” That’s a tall order, but that’s what the world is looking forward to.
Enjoy the fights!
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Full UFC 306 Fight Card:
UFC 306 Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:
135 lbs.: UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili
UFC 306 Main Card on ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: UFC Flyweight Champion Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3
145 lbs.: Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
155 lbs.: Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber
125 lbs.: Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo RodríguezUFC 306 Prelims Card on ESPNN/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
135 lbs.: Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
155 lbs.: Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
115 lbs.: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza
125 lbs.: Joshua Van vs. Edgar ChairezUFC 306 Early Prelims Card on ESPN+ (7:30 p.m. ET):
135 lbs.: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
Boxebet will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 306 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 306 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 306: “O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 306 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
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