#NocheUFC from Sphere Vegas
September 14th!!!! Fight Club Monday pre-sale. pic.twitter.com/jABnXWAUPw
— UFC (@ufc)
July 26, 2024
Twenty percent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on Mexico Independence Day will be for gold medals.
The organization officially announced the full lineup for UFC 306 on Friday, releasing a video showing the full 10-fight lineup. The main event will be a bantamweight championship bout between Sean O’Malley (18-1, 1 no-kick) and Merab Dvalishvili (17-4), which has long been rumored to be the show’s main event. The co-main event will be a trilogy bout at 125 pounds, where Alexa Grasso (16-3-1) will face former flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (23-4-1) for the belt. The extravaganza will take place at The Sphere in Las Vegas on September 14.
The 135-pound champion, O’Malley, has compiled a seven-fight unbeaten record since suffering the only loss of his career in a knockout at the hands of Marlon Vera in 2020. The only blemish on his rise through the ranks during that time was a bout against Pedro Munoz that ended in a no contest due to a poke to the eye. “Suga Shawn” followed that up with a controversial split decision win over Petr Yan, later earning ShelDog Magazine’s 2022 Heist of the Year Award. Since then, the cocky Montanan has defeated Aljamain Sterling with punches to reclaim the title, avenging a loss to Vera in his first title defense.
While O’Malley is undefeated in seven fights, Dvalishvili has won 10 in a row. Since losing his first UFC bout by split decision to Frankie Saenz and a literal last-second submission loss to Ricky Simon, Dvalishvili has been the man running through the weight class. Of his 10 straight wins, the Georgian has won nine of them by scorecards. His lone finish came against Marlon Moraes in 2021, when he was stopped by strikes in the second stage of the fight.
A longtime strawweight contender, Grasso moved up to 125 pounds in 2020 to face and win against Ji Yeon Kim. Three wins over Macy Barber, Joanne Wood and Vivian Araujo earned Grasso a title shot, and in 2023 she defeated the dominant Shevchenko with a crank punch to the face. The win earned Grasso a spot on Sherdog’s podium for the 2023 “Most Upset Wins of the Year” list, setting up an immediate rematch with the woman of her choosing. Grasso and Shevchenko rematched on UFC’s inaugural “Noche UFC” card in 2023 to a split draw, marking the first time either woman has faced each other in just under a year.
Shevchenko’s record as the longest-reigning flyweight champion came to an abrupt halt with her loss to Grasso at UFC 285. The loss ended a nine-fight winning streak, all of which came in her new weight class at 125 pounds. She went on to defend her title a women’s record seven times in a row, besting such notables as Liz Carmouche, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade and Katrin Cerminara. She now holds the same record as Cerminara with nine career wins in the division and celebrates the most knockouts (four) among her many accolades in the division.
