The much-hyped UFC 306 event, aka ‘Riyadh Season Noche FC’ at The Sphere in Las Vegas on September 14th to celebrate Mexican Independence Day is expected to be a one-of-a-kind visual spectacle, but it’ll actually have less fights than a normal UFC show.
“We’re going to do 10 (fights),” White revealed on The Pat McAfee Show. “There will be a main, co-main, and obviously this card will be very Mexican-heavy.”
If that’s the case then half the card has already been announced since the start of this month, but without yet having the kind of high-profile match-up that you’d expect to find on a marquee show of this magnitude.
Here’s the list so far:
Michel Pereira vs. Anthony Hernandez
Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza
Édgar Cháirez vs. Kevin Borjas
Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
Ronaldo Rodríguez vs. Ode’ Osbourne
So clearly big-name fights need to be brought in, and though Dana White is staying tight-lipped about it, the word according to reporter Ariel Helwani is that the UFC is looking to have bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley headline the event against Merab Dvalishvili.
Meanwhile, a rematch between Mexican flyweight champ Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko was always an obvious choice for the show and is being considered for the co-main event spot.
Nothing’s official on those two fights yet, but if they are confirmed then that leaves three more fights up for grabs that hopefully will also pack a punch to justify the huge production cost for this event.
“I’m already $17 million into this thing, and we’re not anywhere near September yet,” White said. “… I’m going in one night, one time and that’s it — never again. That’s why I keep telling you guys: It’s gonna be the most unique, badass, incredible show you’ve ever seen in sports.”
