The UFC’s Mexican Independence Day celebration comes to The Sphere in Las Vegas for UFC 306 (UFC Night). The main event will see the colorful Sean O’Malley (18-1, 1 NC) defend the UFC bantamweight title against top contender and grappler Merab Dvalishvili (17-4). It is a collaborative event with Riyadh Season.
Alexa Grasso defends the UFC flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy fight in the co-main event. The first fight between the two at UFC 285 saw Grasso (16-3-1) dethrone Shevchenko (23-4-1) following a dramatic fourth-round submission victory. The rematch was last September, also called UFC Night. It was a close fight with mixed resultslater obtained a draw by the judges.
After coaching the latest The Ultimate Fighter, Mexico’s Grasso is looking to continue her reign, while the legendary Shevchenko is ready to take the gold again.
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Also featured is an exciting featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes. Ortega (16-3, 1 NC) is coming off a submission win against Yair Rodriguez in February that ended a two-fight losing streak, with the loss coming against Rodriguez following a shoulder injury. The former featherweight title challenger is ranked third in the pision.
Lopes (25-6) is ranked 12th and is riding a four-fight winning streak, with two wins coming in 2024.
Below is the full UFC 306 fight card.
UFC 306 fight card
Principal card
- Sean O’Malley (c) vs. Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight title
- Alexa Grasso (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3 for the UFC flyweight title
- Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes; Featherweight
- Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics; Lightweight
- Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Ode’ Osbourne; Flyweights
Preliminaries
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres; Lightweights
- Irena Aldana vs. Norma Dumont; Bantamweight
- Edgar Chairez vs. Kevin Borjas; fly weights
- Yazmin Jaruegui vs. Ketlen Souza; strawweights
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng; Bantamweight
The main event will feature Sean O’Malley defending the UFC bantamweight title against his rival and friend of Aljamain Sterling Merab Dvalishvili.
The event will feature the return of Raul Rosas Jr. Rosas (9-1) showed his skills on Dana White’s Contender Series, and White had to hire him afterward. The 19-year-old is riding a two-fight win streak and six submission victories.
He will face Aoriqileng (25-11), who has eight knockout wins. The Chinese fighter is coming off a no-decision against Daniel Marcos in February and is 1-1 (1 NC) in his last three fights.
Irene Aldana faces Norma Dumont in a bantamweight title fight. Mexico’s Aldana (15-7) lost to Amanda Nunes for the UFC bantamweight title in June 2023, Nunes’ retirement fight. The owner of the second-most strikes landed (1,105) in UFC women’s bantamweight history ranks fourth at bantamweight after beating Karol Rosa in a rebound fight.
Brazil’s Dumont (11-2) is riding a four-fight winning streak. The 10th-ranked bantamweight beat former world champion Germaine de Randamie in April after a skid at flyweight.
Also in action, Mexico’s Daniel Zellhuber takes on Esteban Ribovics. Zellhuber (15-1) is riding a three-fight winning streak. The former Dana White’s Contender Series standout has seven wins by knockout. Ribovics (13-1) is 3-1 in the UFC. Another DWCS competitor, “El Gringo,” has seven wins by knockout and five by submission.
UFC 306 Tuning Information
- Date: Saturday, September 14
- Location: The Sphere — Las Vegas, Nevada
- Time: 10 pm ET (8 pm ET for prelims)
- How to watch: ESPN+ ($79.99 PPV rate plus $10.99/month membership)
UFC 306 takes place at The Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14, the same day as Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena. Early prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET, while prelims are at 8 p.m. ET. The main card begins at 10 p.m. ET, and O’Malley and Dvalishvili should take to the Octagon around 12:30 a.m. ET, depending on how long the preliminary fights last.
Fight fans can watch UFC 304 on ESPN+ Watch full movie
LOOK: UFC 306: Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili, exclusively on ESPN+
Next UFC television schedule
| Date | Event | Location | How to see |
| August 3, 2024 | Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov | Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi | ESPN+ABC/Fubo |
| August 10, 2024 | Tybura vs Spivac 2 | UFC APEX – Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
| August 17, 2024 | UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya | RAC Stadium – Perth, Australia | ESPN+ |
| August 24, 2024 | TBA vs. TBA | UFC APEX – Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
| September 7, 2024 | Burns vs Brady | UFC APEX – Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
| September 14 | UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili | The Sphere – Las Vegas, Nevada | ESPN+ |