Matches To Make After UFC 306

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UFC 306 went down last night (Sat., Sept. 14, 2024) from inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, which featured a “love letter” to Mexicans from Dana White via amazing graphics and story-telling (details here). In the headlining act, Merab Dvalishvili dethroned Sean O’Malley from the top of the Bantamweight ladder thanks to a dominant 25-minute performance (highlight here). In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko once again became the women’s Flyweight champion after suffocating and shutting down Alexa Grasso over the course of five rounds (recap here).

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Winner: Merab Dvalishvili

Who He Should Face Next: Umar Nurmagomedov

Now that Dvalishvili has accomplished his championship dreams by absolutely dominating O’Malley, the road will only get tougher because of the huge target on his back. Up next for “The Machine” will likely be a showdown against fellow grappler, Umar Nurmagomedov, in his first-ever title defense. Nurmagomedov is ranked No. 2, is undefeated at 18-0, 6-0 UFC, and is coming off a dominant win over Cory Sandhagen, so he has undoubtedly secured his shot at the strap. Wrestling haters look away.

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Winner: Valentina Shevchenko

Who She Should Face Next: Manon Fiorot

There is no doubt that Manon Fiorot has locked down the next shot at the division strap. After all, she was pegged as backup for UFC 306 and has put in the work by going undefeated (7-0) inside the cage, defeating the likes of Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield along the way. This matchup is a welcomed sight for Shevchenko since she has faced Grasso three straight times and a fourth simply isn’t needed.

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Winner: Diego Lopes

Who He Should Face Next: Evloev vs. Sterling winner

Lopes secured the biggest win of his career by dominating Brian Ortega (No. 3) en route to a unanimous decision win. With four straight wins under his belt, Ortega will crash the Top 5 come next week, and will be looking for bigger fights. A title fight won’t be next, but perhaps if he faces and defeats the winner of the upcoming bout between Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling — which is set to go down on Oct. 5 at UFC 307 — it could be what gets him to the big dance. Plus, if Evloev is the next fight Lopes has the chance to avenge his loss to him from UFC 288, his only defeat under the UFC banner thus far which happened to be in his promotional debut.

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Winner: Esteban Ribovics

Who He Should Face Next: Ignacio Bahamondes

Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber put on an instant classic last night, leading to a win for Ribovics and an extra $50,000 in their respective bank accounts. Prior to the event, there were rumblings of a potential bout between Bahamondes and Zellhuber for UFC 306, so since Bahamondes won his fight against Manuel Torres and Ribovics defeated Zellhuber, why not book these two strikes against one another?

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Winner: Ronaldo Rodríguez

Who He Should Face Next: Andre Lima

Rodriguez survived a couple of scares from Ode Osbourne to eventually pull through and get the unanimous decision win in the opening fight of the night to win his seventh straight, second inside the Octagon. A good option for “Lazy Boy’s” next bout could be Lima, who is undefeated at 10-0, which includes going 3-0 inside the Octagon. “Mascote” is fresh off a win over Felipe dos Santos a few weeks ago.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 306: “O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.