Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili produced a typical Dvalishvili performance to defeat Sean O’Malley over five rounds and capture the undisputed bantamweight championship on a spectacular night at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili turned in a performance of controlled pressure as he took O’Malley out of his game, and took down the champion, on multiple occasions as he imposed his will on a champion who simply had no answer to the Georgian’s relentless approach.
Dvalishvili dominated the contest, and only looked troubled in the closing moments of the final round, when a stabbing front kick to the body appeared to hurt “The Machine.” But Dvalishvili had little issue fighting through the pain to take the fight to the scorecards.
When they were read, it was somewhat surprising to see two 48-47 scores, with the 49-46 scorecard seeming more reflective of the action. But thankfully there was no judging controversy, as an emotional and ecstatic Dvalishvili was rightly proclaimed as the winner.
Shevchenko reclaims flyweight throne
The co-main event saw Valentina Shevchenko return to the top of the women’s flyweight division as she dethroned the woman who dethroned her, Alexa Grasso, in their trilogy fight.
Shevchenko fought with sky-high fight IQ and a super-sharp gameplan as she pitched a shutout to reclaim the title with 50-45 scores across the board after five rounds of dominance.
Shevchenko had to be on her mettle throughout, even when she found herself in top position on the ground, with “Bullet” having to stay calm in the face of multiple submission attempts from the defending champion. But Shevchenko avoided any serious trouble and outclassed Grasso across the striking and grappling realms to return to the top of the women’s 125-pound division.
Main card recap
The main card saw the continued rise of featherweight contender Diego Lopes, who underlined his championship credentials with a dominant decision victory over former title challenger Brian Ortega.
Lopes dropped Ortega early, and wasn’t scared to follow “T-City” to the mat, despite Ortega’s renowned ability to finish fights off his back. And, after holding his own with Ortega on the mat, he dominated large spells of the contest on the feet to earn a shutout win on the scorecards, and a victory over a longtime top three contender at 145 pounds.
Earlier on the main card, Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber served up an instant classic as they produced arguably the fight of the year so far, and more than likely the best round of the year, with the final frame producing jaw-dropping action as Ribovics badly hurt Zellhuber and went into berserker mode in a bid to finish the Mexican.
But Zellhuber, perhaps inspired by his surroundings, weathered the storm and fired back with shots of his own. In the end, the fight went to the scorecards, with Ribovics taking the split-decision nod with scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
The main card kicked off with an emotional victory for Mexico’s Ronaldo Rodriguez defeating Ode Osbourne via unanimous decision.
UFC 306: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) – for bantamweight title
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – for flyweight title
- Diego Lopes def. Brian Ortega via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Ronaldo Rodriguez def. Ode Osbourne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Norma Dumont def. Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ignacio Bahamondes def. Manuel Torres via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:02
- Ketlen Souza def. Yazmin Jauregui via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:02
- Joshua Van def. Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Raul Rosas Jr. def. Aori Qileng via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
