UFC 306 commences Saturday night from Las Vegas, headlined by two title fights at the top of the one-and-done Sphere appearance for the promotion.
The main event will see Sean O’Malley (18-1) make the second defense of his bantamweight title when he faces surging No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili (17-4), who is currently riding a 10-fight winning streak dating back to September 2018.
Although the two have yet to fight, it is personal for Dvalishvili given that O’Malley knocked out and won the title in August 2023 from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. Sterling and Dvalishvili are teammates and training partners who promised they would never fight each other if Sterling held the belt, according to a report from MMAFighting.com.
With this scenario no longer on the table, Dvalishvili has a chance to become the second Georgian champion in UFC history with a victory against O’Malley on Saturday night. O’Malley, who has been part of the UFC since August 2017, can extend his winning streak to four if he gets past Dvalishvili.
At press time, the odds slightly favored O’Malley at -120, as he is coming off a victory against Marlon Vera in March at UFC 299. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili comes in as a slight underdog at +100, according to Tapology.
The co-main event features a highly anticipated women’s flyweight title bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko, a trilogy-completing fight nearly a year in the making.
They fought to a draw in their second fight in September 2023, while Grasso became the first female Mexican UFC champion six months earlier with a rear-naked-choke win at UFC 285.
The fight’s winner will likely be dubbed the best women’s flyweight in all of MMA, as Grasso and Shevchenko coached against one another on The Ultimate Fighter 32, adding an extra promotional layer to the rivalry.
The odds lean slightly toward Grasso at -120, with the former UFC flyweight champion at +100. A victory for Grasso would put her ahead in the series, while a Shevchenko victory could set up a rare fourth fight between the two.
The 10-fight card features primarily Mexican-based fighters, as the event is dubbed Riyadh Season Noche UFC. The preliminary portion begins at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the main card starting at its traditional time of 10 p.m. ET.
–Field Level Media