The full 10-fight card has been announced for the eagerly anticipated UFC 306 event at the Sphere in Las Vegas on September 14th, aka ‘Riyadh Season Noche FC’, and it will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.
The event will be a special celebration to mark Mexican Independence Day and is set to be the most expensive production in UFC history due to the visual spectacle they have planned for the one-of-a-kind Sphere arena, with over $17 million already having been spent on it so far.
O’Malley gets top billing on the line-up as he looks to defend his 135lb title for a 2nd time, having previously won the belt with a 2nd round TKO victory over Aljamain Sterling a year ago, before successfully making his first defence with a unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera in March.
Now he’ll be facing a formidable opponent in Dvalishvili, a dominant wrestler who is long overdue a title shot after compiling a 10-fight winning streak over the past six years.
Another title fight that had been heavily rumored for the event has also now been made official as the co-main event, with Mexico’s own Alexa Grasso set to make her first flyweight title defense in a rematch with the long-time champion she defeated in a shock upset last year to win the belt, Valentina Shevchenko.
And another big match-up now unveiled for the show sees a fight between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes rebooked after it was scrapped on a days notice from the recent UFC 303 card.
However one notable absence from the line-up is a previously announced fight between Michel Pereira and Anthony Hernandez, which has now been moved to headline a UFC Fight Night event on October 19th instead.
Check out the full UFC 306 fight card below.
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Main Card
Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodríguez
Prelims
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Chairez
Yazmin Jáuregui vs. Ketlen Souza
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng
#NocheUFC from @SphereVegas on September 14th!!!! Fight Club Pre sale Monday. pic.twitter.com/jABnXWAUPw
— UFC (@ufc) July 26, 2024
