“The Machine” will continue, while “The Suga Show” is on hiatus, at least for the time being.
In the main event of UFC 306 at the Venetian Sphere in Las Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) used his relentless wrestling and legendary pace and cardio to defeat Sean O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 1 NC; 10-2 MMA, 1 NC UFC) to claim the bantamweight belt. The first round was a tense one as both fighters tried to find distance and rhythm, but the challenger scored two takedowns with relative ease in the second half and landed some solid strikes as O’Malley tried to get to his feet, briefly threatening with a mounted guillotine choke late in the match. Dvalishvili wasted no time getting back to the canvas in the second round, timing it all for an easy double leg attack from the champion and staying in top position for the remainder of the round. By the end of the second round, Dvalishvili was grinning and fooling around, kissing the champion on the head as he sat down, drawing angry blows from O’Malley at the end of the round. The tide turned in the middle rounds, with Dvalishvili failing to secure his first takedown of the night, and the champion landing a few clean, hard blows as the shorter man tried to close the distance. O’Malley’s momentum carried over into the fourth round, taking aim from the outside in the first two minutes and appearing to hurt “The Machine” with a few body shots and a right punch from above. But by the middle of the fourth round, Dvalishvili had earned a takedown and was soon chipping away with short strikes, threatening to break through O’Malley’s guard. Late in the round, Dvalishvili landed a series of blows on the champion as he leaned against the fence. O’Malley appeared to have done the damage, and rose to his feet, clearly hurt. With just five minutes left until the belt was handed over, O’Malley started the final round aggressively, but even as he took down his opponent, he hesitated to land strikes that could have turned the bout in his favor. Any chance of defending the championship appeared to be over when Dvalishvili scored another takedown, but O’Malley quickly rose to his feet and thrived, attacking Dvalishvili with front kicks, punches and a well-timed intercepting knee to the midsection. With under a minute left, O’Malley looked tense, but nothing came of it until the final horn sounded.
The judges scored the decision 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 in Dvalishvili’s favor, extending his winning streak to 11 and making him the new UFC men’s bantamweight champion, but given O’Malley’s star quality and skill set, this loss shouldn’t significantly hurt his chances of a title shot.
Shevchenko dominates Grasso to reclaim belt
The greatest fighter of all time in the women’s flyweight division proved she continues to build on her legendary resume with a dominant performance against Alexa Grasso, who dethroned her last year and defended her belt by draw in the rematch. Shevchenko (23-4-1, 13-3-1 UFC) relied early and often on her elite yet often overlooked wrestling and top-position grappling to take Grasso down in all five rounds, gain three rounds of control time and frankly look to have won easily in the process. Grasso (16-4-1, 8-4-1 UFC) had some bright moments, including threatening to submit Shevchenko in the second and fourth rounds, but it was a “bullet” show for the most part for the five rounds at the Sphere. The cageside judges agreed, scoring the bout 50-45 for Shevchenko. With the win, Shevchenko effectively reclaimed her signature UFC flyweight belt. It remains to be seen whether she will make a second defense of the title against Grasso, who is 1-1-1 against Shevchenko, or Manon Fiorot, who was in Las Vegas and weighed in as the backup for Saturday’s championship fight.
Lopez hits Ortega
Diego Lopez (26-6, 6-1 UFC) made a big step up in the featherweight pecking order by out-foxing Brian Ortega (16-4, 1 NC’, 8-4, 1 NC’) over three rounds. Scheduled six weeks ago but postponed due to Ortega’s illness on the day of the fight, the bout saw Lopez pounce on Ortega early in the first round, rocking the veteran challenger with clean punches and swarming for the finish with a knockout. But Ortega weathered the storm, using his vaunted guard to hold Lopez back and buy himself time to get back into the fight. By the end of the first round, Ortega was on the back foot but still in the fight. Ortega came back strong in the second round, but Lopez’s speed, power and punch combinations were simply superior. To make matters worse, Lopez’s kicks to the calf steadily damaged Ortega’s left leg, leaving it badly swollen and limping by the end of the round. The final round played out in the same way, with Ortega pushing forward and trying to claw back from the brink of defeat, but he couldn’t keep up with the rising star. A furious attack in the closing seconds gave Lopez the victory, winning by scores of 30-26, 30-27, 30-27. Lopez’s five-fight winning streak at the UFC likely puts him on the short list for a shot at featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, but Ortega’s one-sided defeat puts him further away from a title shot than he’s ever been.
Libovix defeats Zellhuber in an epic battle
It’s fair to say that the real winners of the Esteban Rybovic vs. Daniel Zellhuber bout were the fans, as the pairing of these two lightweight fighters had the potential to be “Fight of the Year” and “Round of the Year.” Rybovic (14-1) and Zellhuber (15-2) were already shaping up to be an entertaining close bout in the first two rounds, with either fighter easily able to claim victory. But things changed in the third round when Zellhuber took Rybovic down with a spinning elbow. The Argentinian got to his feet, rocked Zellhuber with a devastating right punch, and spent the next minute-plus chasing Zellhuber around the cage, landing dozens of blows as referee Jason Herzog looked on closely. Incredibly, Zellhuber not only survived the onslaught, but also regained enough composure to take control in the final seconds before the final horn. The Sphere crowd cheered as the two lightweight fighters clapped in victory, but it was Ribovich who raised his hand after the official scores were read out. Ribovich won by split scores of 29-28, 29-28, 28-29. The win improved Ribovich’s UFC record to 3-1, while Zellhuber’s promotional record fell to 3-2 with the loss.
Rodriguez beats Osborne
Opening the main card saw Ronald Rodriguez (17-2) defeat Ord Osborne (12-8). The bout was close overall, but one-sided with each round seeing both flyweights trading blows back and forth. The “Jamaican Sensation” started off great, taking down Rodriguez with a right hand and then nearly ending the bout there and then with two precise follow-up strikes. Rodriguez survived, but was in desperation mode for the rest of the round, dodging a deep triangle choke. Even after escaping the triangle choke, Rodriguez still managed to lose the rest of the round from top position, while Osborne landed effective elbows and punches from his back. Rodriguez got his revenge in the second round, however, sensing and reversing a guillotine attempt by Osborne, and spending the rest of the round attacking Osborne from the back mount. With the fight still up in the air, the two flyweights worked together in the third round to produce victory moments for both fighters. In a bout that could have gone 10-8 for both men, Rodriguez won by scorecards 29-28, 29-27, 29-27 to improve to 2-0 with UFC. Osborne falls to 4-6 with the promotion.
Source link
