Dvalishvili dominates O’Malley at UFC Noche

Merab Dvalishvili is the new UFC bantamweight champion after an emphatic triumph over Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 306 – ‘UFC Noche’ – at the Sphere in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 15 September 2024.

The Georgian put in a tireless, smothering performance across five rounds in which he remained clear of O’Malley’s striking reach, landed numerous takedowns and was able to leverage his superior body strength whenever he closed the distance to his opponent.

The judges recognised “The Machine’s” dominant execution of a perfect game plan with a 49-46 48-47 48-47 score in favour of the new champion.

“I know [O’Malley] is good, but I made him look normal,” said Dvalishvili, who added: “Nothing was surprising me, I can go 15 rounds more like this.”

In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the women’s flyweight championship with a dominant unanimous decision triumph over Alexa Grasso. ‘Bullet’ bossed the fight throughout, enjoying better striking and landing takedowns with ease before controlling her opponent on the ground, earning a 50-45 50-45 50-45 victory as per the judges’ scorecards.

“Everything about this fight is more satisfying,” said Shevchenko after finally getting the better of Grasso, who ended the Kyrgyzstani’s long title reign in March last year, before the pair fought to a controversial draw in a rematch a year ago.

The rest of the main card saw Ronaldo Rodriguez overcome Ode’ Osbourne via unanimous decision in the flyweight division; Esteban Ribovics got the better of Daniel Zellhuber in the lightweight division with a split decision triumph; and Diego Lopes secured the biggest win of his career by emphatically outpointing fellow featherweight Brian Ortega.

The UFC returns in two weeks with a Fight Night in Paris, France, on the evening of Saturday 28 September, headlined by a lightweight match pitting Renato Moicano against Benoit Saint-Denis.

UFC 306 – Main card results

- Main event: Bantamweight championship: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision (49-46 48-47 48-47), R5, 5:00

- Co-main: Women’s flyweight championship: Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso via unanimous decision (50-45 50-45 50-45), R5, 5:00

- Featherweight: Diego Lopes def. Brian Ortega via unanimous decision (30-26 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00

- Lightweight: Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28), R3, 5:00

- Flyweight: Ronaldo Rodriguez def. Ode’ Osbourne via unanimous decision (29-28 29-27 29-27), R3, 5:00