Ronaldo Rodriguez and Ordo Osborne at the UFC 306 official weigh-in. Photo by Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
Opening the main card of UFC 306 was a flyweight bout between Ronaldo Rodriguez and Ord Osborne, with Rodriguez representing Mexico at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The night was planned to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, but also served as the promotion’s September PPV, with two title matches scheduled for later in the night.
Rodriguez, in particular, was excited about the stunning footage from Saturday at the Sphere, but he had to get straight to business. Unfortunately, he was hit by a right punch from Osborne and nearly finished with two punches. One of them may have helped Rodriguez regain consciousness after a near knockdown/finish, but he then had to deal with a triangle choke from Osborne. It was tight, and Osborne landed an elbow to the back, but Rodriguez held on and escaped, eventually getting into guard.
Incredibly, Rodriguez survived the round, but early in the second he had to counter a neat guillotine from Osbourne’s takedown that got Osbourne caught in the guillotine. Rodriguez survived, got back on top and landed some hard elbows. A scramble saw Osbourne free, but Rodriguez was on top in mount. Osbourne tried to go for a choke but failed, but the Mexican still had Aude tied up – something of a miracle considering he’d been so close to being taken down in the first round.
At the end of the round, Osborne was on top, landing one or two hard punches in a fight that could only be described as wild.
Considering the brutal pace and damage both men had endured in the first ten minutes, both men looked pretty energetic at the start of the third round. Rodriguez landed a left hook just past the two minute mark that put Osborne on the defensive. Rodriguez began landing a flurry of right hands and had to fend off a sudden shot that put Osborne on the takedown. Osborne went for a 1-2 and a left counter from Rodriguez landed. Another takedown attempt came with Osborne on top, this time falling to the mat. Rodriguez went for a kimura from his back and used it to get to his feet.
Ord Osborne attempted a takedown in the final minute, but Rodriguez blocked it. He went for a choke but got on top as Osborne fell flat on his back. With 15 seconds left in a closely fought round, Rodriguez unleashed a flurry of punches and elbows to open the main card with a bang until the bell rang to end the fight.
Official result: Ronaldo Rodriguez defeats Ord Osborne by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
