UFC 306 made history on Saturday night as the first live sporting event held inside the renowned Sphere in Las Vegas.
And the action lived up to the hype as the main card saw two titles switch hands as Merab Dvalishvili and Valentina Schevchenko dethroned champions Sean O’Malley and Alexa Grasso.
Meanwhile, Diego Lopes likely skyrockets up the featherweight leaderboard after yet another impressive victory, this time dispatching former two-time title challenger Brian Ortega.
The second annual Noche UFC event, dubbed a “love letter” to Mexican fighting heritage was packaged in a never-before-seen way and surely left fight fans in awe.
Here are the official results from UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili.
MAIN CARD
Merab Dvalishvili defeats Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
And new!
“The Machine” suffocated the now-former champ with his wrestling expertise and earned his way to the bantamweight title and an 11th consecutive victory. The 135-pound division now goes through the Georgian.
Valentina Shevchenko defeats Alexa Grasso via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
It may have taken a third fight but “Bullet” finally got her win over Grasso and is once again Queen of the women’s flyweight division.
Schevchenko withstood takedown and submission attempts from the now-former champ while connecting on her strikes with consistency to retain the title she had previously defended seven times before losing it at UFC 285.
Diego Lopes defeats Brian Ortega via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
If it wasn’t already clear, the featherweight division is officially on notice after a fifth consecutive victory for the rising talent Lopes.
Nearly dispatching Ortega in the first round, he eventually got it done on the judges’ scorecards and will surely leap from the No. 12 spot on the division leaderboard after taking down the third-ranked contender.
Esteban Ribovics defeats Daniel Zellhuber via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
A strong contender for fight of the night, both lightweights landed their fair share of thundering strikes throughout a jam-packed 15 minutes of action. Ultimately, Ribovics outlanded Zellhuber 92-43 in the third round and nearly knocked him out to squeak out a narrow victory and improve to 4-1 in the UFC.
Ronaldo Rodriguez defeats Ode’ Osbourne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Despite getting knocked down in the first round, and nearly getting submitted multiple times, Rodriguez flipped the script and did enough to ensure Mexican fighters did not lose a fifth consecutive fight at Noche UFC on Saturday.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Norma Dumont defeats Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
The Brazilian Dumont took advantage of a massive gash on the forehead of Aldana caused by an inadvertent headbutt, out-striking her bloodied opponent to earn a fifth consecutive victory.
Ignacio Bahamondes defeats Manuel Torress via TKO at 4:02 of Round 1
It took less than a full round for Bahamondes to hand Torress his first UFC loss, countering the Mexican’s aggression with expertly timed strikes and a ground-and-pound assault for the finish.
Ketlen Souza defeats Yazmin Jauregui via submission at 3:02 of Round 1
Despite entering the octagon as a massive underdog, “Esquentadinha” put fight fans on notice when she connected on a devastating left hook and then locked in a rear-naked choke that put Souza to sleep.
Joshua Van defeats Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
In a fight that saw both flyweight fighters stumble courtesy of some cracking strikes, and a rarely-seen spinning back fist, it was Van who took care of business in a decisive third round to improve to 4-1 in the UFC.
Raul Rosas Jr. defeats Aoriqileng via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
While facing the pressure of the first fight in the first-ever sporting event at the Sphere, “El Niño” once again showed the poise of a veteran.
Still the youngest fighter in the UFC at 19 years old, Rosas Jr. improved to 4-1 under the banner and earned a third straight victory.
