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Jeff Wagenheim, ESPN
At first glance, the UFC’s approach to celebrating Mexican Independence Day this coming weekend seems perplexing.
UFC 306, which takes place Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas, is headlined by a fight between an Irish-American from Montana and a New Yorker transplanted from the Republic of Georgia. And to add to the quizzically all-over-the-map motif, the event is sponsored by an arm of the government of Saudi Arabia.
Branding and marquee toppers aside, though, there will indeed be a Mexican theme permeating the second annual Noche UFC (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET). Before the main event between men’s bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili, all nine of the evening’s other bouts will feature a Mexico-born or Mexican American fighter. The co-main event pits women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso — out of Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco — against former titlist Valentina Shevchenko, to complete a trilogy that’s already full of twists.
Beyond the competitive stakes, the overarching ambiance of the night promises to visually and aurally transport fans south of the border. This first sporting event at Sphere, the cutting-edge entertainment venue that opened last year just off the Las Vegas Strip, will take full advantage of the mind-numbing technology built into the humongous round structure. Throughout the night, the UFC will use the 160,000-square-foot wraparound LED screen and concert-quality sound system to tell the story of combat sports in Mexico.
“This is basically a love letter to the Mexican people and their culture,” CEO Dana White said a few weeks ago on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Championship fights. Breathtaking production. Big-time stakes. There will be storylines swirling all around the spherical wonder of UFC 306. Here are a few to pay attention to.
1. Is the real star of the show the stage itself?
Title fights are cool and all, but a night of fisticuffs at Sphere is once in a lifetime. You can take that literally, if White has anything to say about it — which he already has. “This will be a one-and-done,” the UFC president told reporters in the spring, “just because I wanted to do it.”
So what will Saturday’s no-second-chance spectacle look like? Judging by the trippy concert visuals that visitors have soaked in so far at the $2.3 billion facility, Sphere offers artists and other presenters an empty canvas with seemingly endless possibilities for an immersive multimedia experience. The UFC is not known for subtlety, so expect something big and bold and, one hopes, not too overblown.
The fight promotion is keeping specific details under wraps, but in an interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, White said, “We’re gonna tell throughout the rest of the night the history of combat in Mexico, from the beginning of time and into the future.”
2. Will ‘Suga Sean’ stand tall? (He’d better.)
Men’s bantamweight championship: Sean O’Malley (c) vs. Merab Dvalishvili
O’Malley has a dozen knockouts among his 18 career victories, and he would be wise to position himself early on Saturday to dial up another one. If not, the champ should do all he can to stay upright and keep his challenger at arm’s length. But that’s easier said than done. Dvalishvili is known as “The Machine,” and his fuel is relentless wrestling.
In 12 UFC fights, Dvalishvili has 79 takedowns, the most among active fighters and 11 behind all-time leader Georges St-Pierre. The record will be within reach Saturday. Dvalishvili has hit double figures four times in a match, including in his only previous five-round fight — against former champ Petr Yan last year, when he landed 11 takedowns on an astounding 49 tries. Yan, by the way, had fought O’Malley a few months earlier and scored six takedowns.
Can the kicks, knees and lights-out right hand of O’Malley make Dvalishvili think twice before blasting takedown try after takedown try? Just thinking about it is exhausting.
3. Is the co-main event a remake of ‘Groundhog Day’?
Women’s flyweight championship: Alexa Grasso (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Grasso vs. Shevchenko. Shevchenko vs. Grasso. On and on and on.
For over two years, this matchup has embodied the entirety of the 125-pound title picture, with no photobombers in view. The last time a championship fight in this division did not pit these two against each other was in June 2022, when Taila Santos lost to Shevchenko by split decision. In the time since, all 11 UFC titles have changed hands. And Santos isn’t even in the UFC anymore; she’ll go for a PFL season championship in November.
The thing is, Grasso and Shevchenko do still have business to settle. Grasso ended Shevchenko’s seemingly untouchable reign — seven title defenses in just over four years — with a shocking upset in March 2023. Shevchenko was in charge of that fight until Grasso countered a spinning kick in Round 4 by seizing back control and, in a flash, sinking in the finishing choke. Then, in last September’s rematch, Grasso retained the title via the slimmest of margins, a split draw. It was a bizarre result but a fitting one following a bout that some were sure Shevchenko won, while others saw it go Grasso’s way and still others felt strongly was scored properly as a tie.
It’s time to settle this and move on.
4. Doing double duty on the ground
Featherweight: Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
When this main card fight ends, Lopes is not off duty for the night. The very next matchup features his training partner Alexa Grasso, who is also his jiu-jitsu student. That makes Lopes the guy who drilled into Grasso the tide-turning back take that last year made her a champion.
For Lopes to reach that same pinnacle, he needs to handle Ortega, a one-time title challenger. Lopes’ mat mastery will be put to the test in this fight. Ortega has the grappling chops to turn Lopes the teacher, into Lopes the vanquished student.
5. The stakes are high … and up in the air
Women’s bantamweight: Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
Dumont has won seven of her last eight fights. Aldana’s only losses since 2018 have come against champions — current titlist Raquel Pennington and ex-champs Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm. This could very well be a No. 1 contender fight.
Or not. Kayla Harrison, the UFC’s latest star signee, fights Ketlen Vieira on Oct. 5 — the same night that Pennington defends her belt against another former champ Julianna Peña. A win by Harrison, who has a higher profile as a fighter and personality than either Aldana or Dumont, likely would jump her to the head of a queue to challenge for the belt.
Could a dazzling performance by Aldana or Dumont shift that dynamic? It wouldn’t be the first time.
6. Making the most of his head start
Men’s bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng
Raul Rosas Jr. is 19 years old and already has had what some might consider a full MMA career. He’s fought 10 grown men since turning pro shortly after his 17th birthday. After earning a UFC roster spot via “Dana White’s Contender Series” in late 2022, Rosas has had four fights in the Octagon and won all but one. What’s been most impressive was his bounce-back from the lone loss: He’s scored two wins, both by finish.
The young Mexican-American will be tested by Aoriqileng, a veteran of 37 pro fights. The seasoned fighter from China began his pro fighting career in 2005 — when Rosas was 11.
7, 8, 9 and 10. A 10-count and it’s over?
UFC pay-per-views have become known for two things: high-level MMA and sleep deprivation. With 12-to-14 fights on a typical evening’s schedule, a big card can run over seven hours long on the air, with the main event often not getting underway until nearly 1 a.m. in the Eastern time zone.
So seeing just 10 bouts on this weekend’s bill is refreshing. Maybe this is a temporary shift, the reality of putting on a show at Sphere. Or perhaps it’s a nod to the trend in sports to speed up the games. MMA can’t institute a pitch clock like baseball, but fight promoters do have the sway to cut down from the traditional run of show.
Fans will still be burning the midnight oil, as the main card is five fights, as usual, and starts at the normal 10 p.m. E.T. But the later card start (7:30) should leave fans with energy to carry through the night.