Sean O’Malley returns to the Octagon to defend his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili.
O’Malley has won six of his last seven fights, the other being ruled void after an accidental eye poke. Dvalishvili has earned a title shot after winning ten fights in a row, nine of those wins coming by unanimous decision.
Valentina Shevchenko will face flyweight champion Alexa Grasso in the co-main event, marking the third fight between the two fighters.
Shevchenko lost the title to Grasso by submission in the first fight at UFC 285 in March 2023. The second fight between Grasso and Shevchenko ended in a split decision draw.
Main event: What time is the gate time for the O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili fight?
The main event is next.
Grasso and Shevchenko will face each other for the third time in a fight for the women’s flyweight championship, with the fight set to begin shortly.
Shevchenko and Grasso spent part of the round trading blows before Shevchenko took Grasso to the ground and slowed the pace of the fight. Grasso briefly attempted submissions while working from below, but Shevchenko was able to escape.
In the second round, the fighters found themselves on the ground again after just the first minute.
Shevchenko defeats Grasso by unanimous decision and becomes champion again.
WWE Superstars Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik Mysterio were spotted in the audience.
First round: Lopes landed a series of punches before taking Ortega to the ground. Ortega continued to take the punches, but suffered a cut above his left eye. After what felt like several minutes, Ortega managed to get back to his feet. With two minutes left in the first round, Lopes was credited with 21 strikes to Ortega’s four.
Second round: Ortega also developed a welt on his left leg after taking a number of leg kicks from Lopes, who landed 10 of his 12 punches in the first round and a half. His leg buckled once in the second round after taking a leg kick.
Third round: Lopes landed a powerful left in the final seconds of the third round, rocking Ortega. Lopes was declared the winner of the featherweight fight by unanimous decision.
Esteban Ribovics landed a powerful right hand before throwing a series of punches that stunned Zellhuber in the third round. Zellhuber managed to withstand the onslaught and stay in the fight. In the end, Ribovics won the fight by a split decision.
Rodriguez defeated Osbourne via unanimous decision. Rodriguez recovered after being knocked down by Osbourne and nearly forced into submission.
Jon Jones will face Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 309 on November 16th at Madison Square Garden.
Both Dumont and Aldana continued to trade blows. As a result, Aldana has a crimson mask on her face, which comes from a cut on her forehead. Dumont wins by unanimous decision.
Bahamondes knocks out Torres in the first round with a right hook to the chin (4:02).
Souza embarrassed Jauregui with a left hook before putting her to sleep with a rear naked chokehold in the first round (3:02). It is her second victory by submission.
Josh Van defeated Edgar Chairez and was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Van put on an impressive second round after landing several punches to the body and head on Chairez that seemed to bruise and shake him.
The referee allowed the fight to continue and Chairez used a spinning back fight to gain some distance from Van before taking him down with a guillotine choke. Van had accepted the fight on short notice.
Rosas was declared the winner by unanimous decision. He has now won three fights in a row and is the first fighter to win at the Sphere.
- Early preliminary rounds: 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT (UFC Fight Pass)
- Front page: 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT (ESPNews/ESPN+)
- Main map: 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT (PPV on ESPN+)
Watch UFC 306 with ESPN+
Main map
- Sean O’Malley (c) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (Bantamweight Championship)
- Alexa Grasso (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (Women’s Flyweight Championship)
- Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes (featherweight)
- Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics (lightweight)
- Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Ode Osbourne (Flyweight)
Front Page
- Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Manuel Torres vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (Lightweight)
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza (strawweight women)
- Edgar Chairez vs. Joshua Van (Flyweight)
Early preliminary rounds
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng (Bantamweight)
The prelims and heats will be televised on ESPN, with a live stream available on ESPN+. The pay-per-view main event can be purchased and streamed on ESPN+.
The UFC 305 pay-per-view can be purchased on ESPN+ (subscription required) for $79.99.
According to BetMGM, all odds are for moneyline bets (as of Friday).
- Sean O’Malley (-140) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (+115)
- Alexa Grasso (-140) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (+115)
- Brian Ortega (+155) vs. Diego Lopes (-190)
- Daniel Zellhuber (-225) vs. Esteban Ribovics (+185)
- Ronaldo Rodriguez (-165) vs. Ode Osbourne (+135)
- Irene Aldana (-115) against Norma Dumont (-105)
- Manuel Torres (-140) against Ignacio Bahamondes (+115)
- Yazmin Jauregui (-550) vs. Ketlen Souza (+380)
- Edgar Chairez (+200) vs. Joshua Van (-250)
- Raul Rosas Jr. (-1000) vs. Aoriqileng (+650)
The event will take place at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Sphere is a new venue that opened on September 29, 2023 and is located east of the Las Vegas Strip. The arena hosts concerts and entertainment, but the UFC will be its first live sporting event here. The Sphere could accommodate at least 18,600 people.
| Sean O’Malley | Comparisons | Merab Dvalishvili |
| 18-1-0 (1 no contest) | Record | 17-4-0 |
| USA | country | Georgia |
| 5 feet 9 inches | Height | 5 feet 5 |
| 135 pounds | Weight | 135 pounds |
| 72 inches | To reach | 68 inches |
| 40 inches | Leg reach | 38 inches |
Action Sports Network: Merab Dvalishvili on Sean O’Malley
Sean Zerillo writes: “I’ve predicted the fight to finish inside the distance 54% of the time (implied odds of -117), compared to consensus odds closer to -115. O’Malley can quit the show at any time during the fight. Still, I think Merab’s chances of finishing the fight – whether through injury (with O’Malley’s historic ankle/foot issue) or a cardiovascular stoppage in the championship rounds – are underestimated.”
MMAmania: Merab Dvalishvili defeats Sean O’Malley
Jesse Holland writes: “The challenger is in shape to spam takedowns all five rounds, and I’m not sure O’Malley – who was knocked down six times by Petr Yan at UFC 280 – has the defense to stop him. I just don’t feel comfortable picking the champion just because he has a slim chance of landing the killing blow before being two-legged out.”
MMAjunkie: Merab Dvalishvili defeats Sean O’Malley by decision
Dan Tom writes: “I feel like my initial bias toward a knockout of O’Malley is the right call, but I also believe that Davlishvili could be one of the toughest opponents for the champion stylistically, aside from Umar Nurmagomedov. For that reason, I’m going to side, albeit somewhat reluctantly, with the arguably more durable fighter Davlishvili to weather the early storm and pull away down the stretch (and potentially get a late win if O’Malley’s body doesn’t hold together).”
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