In the main event of UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia stunned American Sean O’Malley to win the UFC Bantamweight Championship by a unanimous decision for the first-time in his professional fighting career. The bantamweight championship bout, which lasted for five gruelling rounds at the Sphere in Las Vegas, was quite a one-sided contest wherein Merab Dvalishvili controlled the proceedings, giving not much of a chance to Sean O’Malley to make a comeback.
After winning his last 10 bouts, Merab Dvalishvili had earned a title shot against Sean O’Malley, making the most of it from the moment referee Herb Dean opened the first round at the Sphere. He treated 16,024 fans in Las Vegas to an absolute masterclass of professional mixed martial arts, getting the better of the champion 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 on the judges scorecard after dominating him in most of the exchanges.
Merab Dvalishvili won his last 11 fights in professional MMA circuit to become the new UFC Bantamweight Champion
Following a win against Sean O’Malley during his second UFC Bantamweight Championship title defence, Merab Dvalishvili was quite emotional in his post-fight chat with Joe Rogan. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC, “Today I’m the best fighter in the UFC, I prove [it]. Nothing surprised me, I can go 15 rounds like this. He’s a great fighter but I made him look normal.”
The co-main event of the UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas saw UFC Women’s Flyweight champion Alex Grasso, the Mexican MMA fighter, losing her title to Valentina Shevchenko Kyrgyzstan in front of her home fans in a rout by a unanimous decision with the judges scorecard reading 50-45, 50-45, 50-45. In the featherweight division, Diego Lopes of Brazil defeated Brian Ortega of the USA by a unanimous decision, with judges scoring it 30-26, 30-27, 30-27.
UFC will be going on PPV next time on October 5, when Alex Pereira of Brazil will be defending his light heavyweight championship against Khalil Rountree Jr of the USA in the main event of UFC 307 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.