UFC at Sphere: Dvalashvili claims title; Jones’ return set — PHOTOS
It was a big night for the challengers on the UFC 306 card at Sphere on Saturday night.
Merab Dvalashvili neutralized superstar striker Sean O’Malley for nearly the entire 25 minutes by keeping him off balance and repeatedly taking him to the ground on his way to a unanimous decision and the bantamweight title.
Dvalashvili won 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 on the scorecards.
In the other title fight on the card, Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the women’s flyweight title from the woman who took it from her with a unanimous decision over Alexa Grasso.
The fights capped off the melding of sports and entertainment at the tech-infused venue in a celebration of Mexican culture and fighting spirit dubbed Riyadh Season Noche UFC.
The venue, hosting its first live sporting event, proved to be a superstar. Dvalashvili was pretty good, too.
He executed his game plan to perfection before finding a bit of trouble midway through the final round when O’Malley landed a body kick.
Dvalishvili (18-4) was clearly bothered by it, and O’Malley (18-2) took aim at the midsection but couldn’t find a finishing blow.
“I knew he was good, but I made him look normal,” Dvalishvili said. “Look at me. I’m the UFC champion. I’m living my dream.”
Shevchenko gets revenge
Shevchenko (24-4-1) took a similar path.
She secured takedowns in each of the first three rounds and controlled position for long periods each time. Grasso (16-4-1) occasionally threatened with submissions to no avail, though her best chance came when she went to the ground herself in the fourth round and nearly secured a guillotine choke.
The challenger then avoided trouble in the last round to cruise to the decision, evening the series at 1-1-1 over the last 18 months as they now appear to be on a collision course for a fourth fight.
Shevchenko believed she had done enough to win the belt when they fought a year ago only to settle for a draw.
This time she left little doubt, winning 50-45 on all three scorecards.
“Every thing about this fight is more satisfying” Shevchenko said. “The game plan was to just go in there and fight to the end. Do everything to win this fight.”
Grasso’s submission win in March 2023 is Shevchenko’s only loss since 2017. They fought to a split draw last September at the first Noche UFC event at T-Mobile Arena.
Lopes handles Ortega
Diego Lopes had to wait nearly three months, but he finally got his win over top contender Brian Ortega in a featured featherweight bout.
The two were scheduled to fight in June until Ortega fell ill hours before the event and had to pull out. Lopes instead earned a decision victory over Dan Ige.
It was a similar result with a new opponent Saturday. Lopes (26-6) dropped Ortega (16-4) in the opening minute and couldn’t quite close the door. Ortega, however, was never able to stem the tide and came up on the wrong side of the scorecards in all three rounds.
Rest of main card
Las Vegas resident and rising lightweight contender Daniel Zellhuber (15-2) had his three-fight winning streak snapped as he was edged by Esteban Ribovics (14-1) in a split decision at the end of a wild slugfest that saw both fighters nearly knocked out multiple times.
Ribovics has now won three straight fights since dropping his UFC debut and is likely to be propelled into some big opportunities after drawing a raucous standing ovation for his performance.
Flyweight Ronaldo Rodriguez (18-2) was knocked down and nearly finished by punches and a triangle choke in the opening seconds of the first fight on the pay-per-view card, but recovered to win a unanimous decision over Ode’ Osbourne (12-8, 1 no-contest).
Rodriguez said he was not going to lose on a card celebrating Mexican culture.
“I am a boy that came from the streets of Veracruz,” he said. “I’m here living my dream. I’m doing it.”
Jon Jones returning
A heavyweight showdown between UFC superstars is once again on the official schedule.
Champion Jon Jones will put the belt on the line against former champ Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York, UFC president Dana White said.
The bout was confirmed shortly before the beginning of Saturday night’s historic UFC event at Sphere.
Jones, often considered the best fighter in mixed martial arts history, moved up from light heavyweight to capture the heavyweight crown by making quick work of Ciryl Gane in March 2023.
He immediately called out Miocic, the longest-reigning heavyweight champ in UFC history, who has not competed since 2021.
The fight was booked for last year, but Jones was forced to withdraw because of a torn pectoral muscle.
Tom Aspinall, who claimed the interim belt in their absence, will await the winner.
Preliminary card
Norma Dumont highlighted the preliminary card by battering former women’s bantamweight title challenger Irene Aldana around the cage for three rounds on her way to a unanimous decision.
Aldana suffered a nasty cut that left both fighters covered in blood as they continued to exchange haymakers right to the end, but Dumont got the better of all three rounds and won her fifth-straight fight.
Ignacio Bahamondes couldn’t quite finish lightweight Manuel Torres the first time he knocked him down, but had no such trouble.
The second flurry on the mat of the first round was enough to prompt the referee to step in and award Bahamondes the victory at 4:02
Ketlen Souza dropped Yazmin Jauregui with a right hand in a women’s strawweight bout before immediately locking in a choke and putting Jauregui to sleep midway through the first round.
Also, flyweight Joshua Van earned a unanimous decision over Edgar Chairez.
Las Vegas resident Raul Rosas Jr. became the first fighter to win a bout at Sphere when he captured a unanimous decision over Aori Qileng in the first preliminary bout.
“It feels amazing to make history,” he said.
Rosas entered as a huge favorite and used his wrestling to win on the scorecards after a few wild and dangerous exchanges in the middle round.
He still has just less than four years to accomplish his goal of breaking Jones’ record as the youngest champion in UFC history.
“I’m just 19, and I’m getting bigger and more experienced,” he said. “It’s coming.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
