“The Machine” rolls on, and “The Suga Show” is on hiatus, at least for the time being.
In the main event of UFC 306 inside Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili (18-4, 11-2 UFC) plied his relentless wrestling and his legendary pace and cardio to dethrone Sean O’Malley (18-2, 1 NC, 10-2, 1 NC UFC) and claim the bantamweight belt. The first round was a tense affair, with both men feeling out the range and rhythm, but the challenger landed two takedowns with relative ease in the second half of the frame, landing some solid strikes as O’Malley worked his way back to his feet and briefly threatening with a mounted guillotine choke late. Dvalishvili wasted little time bringing things back to the canvas in Round 2, timing the champ for an easy double-leg and doing work from top position for the balance of the round. By the end of the second frame, Dvalishvili was grinning and clowning, planting a kiss on the head of the seated champ and drawing an angry swipe from O’Malley as the round expired. The tide appeared to be turning in the middle round, as Dvalishvili failed to secure a takedown for the first time all night, and the champ landed several clean, hard strikes as the shorter man tried to close the distance. O’Malley’s momentum carried over to Round 4, as he sniped from the outside over the first two minutes, landing a couple of body shots and a right hand up top that appeared to hurt “The Machine.” Dvalishvili scored a takedown before the midpoint of Round 4, however, and went right back to work chipping away with short strikes and threatening to pass O’Malley’s guard. Late in the round, Dvalishvili landed a series of blows to O’Malley while the champ was seated against the fence that appeared to do damage, as O’Malley made it back to his feet but was visibly hurt. With his belt likely five minutes away from changing hands, O’Malley came out aggressive to start the final round, but while he marched down his foe, he hesitated to throw the strikes that could have swung the fight in his favor. When Dvalishvili landed yet another takedown, it might have portended the end of the champ’s chances at retaining, but O’Malley returned to his feet quickly and came alive, stinging Dvalishvili with front kicks, punches and a well-timed intercepting knee up the middle. With under a minute to go, O’Malley showed a sense of urgency but couldn’t make anything happen before the final horn.
The judges rendered their decision in favor of Dvalishvili via 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 scores, extending his win streak to 11 straight and minting him the newest UFC men’s bantamweight champ. With the loss, O’Malley does not figure to fall too far from the title picture, given his star power and elite skills.
Related » Noche UFC 306 Round-by-Round Scoring
Shevchenko Dominates Grasso to Regain Belt
The greatest fighter in women’s flyweight history proved that she is not quite done compiling her legendary résumé, as she put on a dominant performance against Alexa Grasso, the woman who dethroned her last year and retained the belt thanks to a draw in their rematch. Shevchenko (23-4-1, 13-3-1 UFC) leaned early and often on her elite, yet sometimes overlooked wrestling and top position grappling, grounding Grasso in all five rounds, racking up three full rounds’ worth of control time, and frankly making it look easy along the way. Grasso (16-4-1, 8-4-1 UFC) had a few bright moments, including delivering submission scares to Shevchenko in Rounds 2 and 4, but for the most part it was the “Bullet” show for five rounds at Sphere. The cageside judges concurred, scoring the fight for Shevchenko by unanimous 50-45 tallies. With the win, Shevchenko recaptured the UFC flyweight belt with which she is practically synonymous; whether the first title defense of her second reign will be against Grasso, whose series with Shevchenko stands at 1-1-1, or against surging Manon Fiorot, who was present in Las Vegas and weighed in as a backup for Saturday’s championship fight, will remain to be seen.
Lopes Batters Ortega
Diego Lopes (26-6, 6-1 UFC) took a huge step forward in the featherweight pecking order, battering and bruising a game but overmatched Brian Ortega (16-4, 1 NC’ 8-4, 1 NC UFC) for three rounds. Their delayed matchup, which had been scheduled to take place six weeks ago but was postponed due to a fight-day illness on the part of Ortega, saw Lopes jump all over Ortega early in Round 1, rocking the veteran contender with clean punches, dropping him and swarming for the finish. Ortega weathered the storm, however, and tied up Lopes in his vaunted guard, buying himself time to get back into the fight. By the time the first round expired, Ortega was behind but still very much in the fight. Ortega came back strong in Round 2, but Lopes’ speed, power and combination punching were simply too much. Making matters worse, Lopes’ calf kicks took a steady toll on Ortega’s left leg, leaving him badly swollen and limping by round’s end. The final frame offered more of the same, with Ortega marching forward and trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but unable to keep up with the red-hot rising contender Lopes. A damaging flurry in the closing moments put a stamp on the proceedings for Lopes, who prevailed by 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 scores. Lopes’ fifth straight win in the UFC likely left him on the short list for a shot at featherweight champ Ilia Topuria; the lopsided loss for Ortega left him further than ever from title contention.
Ribovics Nips Zellhuber in Epic Scrap
A good case could be made that the real winners of the Esteban Ribovics–Daniel Zellhuber clash were the fans, as the two lightweights combined to produce a potential “Fight of the Year” and “Round of the Year.” Ribovics (14-1) and Zellhuber (15-2) were already well on their way to an entertaining, closely fought bout through the first two rounds, both of which could easily have been scored for either fighter. Things went supernova in Round 3, however, as Zellhuber dropped Ribovics with a spinning elbow strike. The Argentinean got back to his feet, rocked Zellhuber with a huge right hand, and spent the next minute-plus chasing him around the cage, piling on dozens of unanswered strikes as referee Jason Herzog looked on closely. Incredibly, Zellhuber not only survived the onslaught, but recovered his wits sufficiently to get the better of some last-second exchanges right before the final horn. The Sphere crowd made its approval heard as the two lightweight warriors raised their hands in triumph, but it was Ribovics who had his hand raised after the official scores were read, having prevailed by split scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29. The victory left Ribovics’ UFC record at 3-1, while Zellhuber’s promotional mark fell to 3-2 in defeat.
Rodriguez Outduels Osbourne
In the main card opener, Ronaldo Rodriguez (17-2) outdueled Ode Osbourne (12-8) in a tilt that was competitive as a whole, but lopsided from one round to the next, as the flyweights took turns walloping each other. “The Jamaican Sensation” got off to a great start, flooring Rodriguez with a right hand and nearly finishing things right there with a couple of pinpoint follow-up strikes. Rodriguez survived but spent the balance of the round in desperation mode, fighting off a deep triangle choke. Even after extricating himself from the triangle, Rodriguez arguably lost the remainder of the round from top position, as Osbourne threw effective elbows and punches from his back. Rodriguez got his revenge in Round 2, however, sniffing out a guillotine attempt by Osbourne, reversing him and spending the balance of the round mauling Osbourne from back mount. With the fight likely still up for grabs, the flyweights collaborated on a competitive Round 3, with both men having moments of success. After a bout with potential 10-8 rounds turned in by both fighters, Rodriguez prevailed by 29-28, 29-27 and 29-27 scorecards, bringing his record to 2-0 in the UFC; Osbourne fell to 4-6 with the promotion.
