Sooo ... About Last Night

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

Last night (Sat., Sept. 14, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made history inside the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC 306. Despite two titles being on the line, THE SPHERE was the main attraction here. What exactly does a live sporting event look like inside the technological wonder? Well, in the early “Prelims” portion of the night, it felt like UFC was holding in the event in an oversized Apex! Later on, however, the show grew much more interesting as the production improved as the fights carried more weight.

Enough about the fancy screens though — let’s take a look back over at UFC 306’s best performances and techniques:

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Dvalishvili Embraces The Grind

Three of the five rounds of this title fight were classic Merab Dvalishvili. If you’ve seen even one of his fights, you know exactly what that means. Dvalishvili’s cycle of takedown, ground strike, hang on the neck, and takedown again is a difficult vortex to escape, and he trapped O’Malley in it for large portions of the fight.

The third and fifth were interesting, as “Suga” found ways to break the cycle. In the third, he was able to stick long body straights and use shifting combinations to ding Dvalishvili at distance. He never got close to the fence and thus made Dvalishvili’s attempts to wrestle difficult.

The fifth was more fascinating, as O’Malley finally found a safe path to attack Dvalishvili: the front snap kick. “Suga” had thrown them previously, but with about 90 seconds left, an O’Malley front kick to the body really hurt “The Machine.” He spent the final portion of the round chasing Dvalishvili around, trying to make a miracle happen.

It didn’t. O’Malley coughs up his title in a vintage Merab performance, but he also reveals a major opening for Umar Nurmagomedov.

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Valentina Shevchenko 10-9s Father Time

Shevchenko vs. Grasso was not a fun fight by any measure, but I think fans should respect what Valentina Shevchenko accomplished in her rubber match versus Alexa Grasso.

Remember all those statistics about fighters over the age of 35 never winning in title fights? There’s another statistic about older fighters almost never winning rematches against younger opponents after the younger athlete wins the first bout. Both were more damning than the betting odds indicate, evidence that Shevchenko was only going to do worse the longer this rivalry with Grasso lasted.

“Bullet” said f—k that noise. She bucked every trend to recapture her belt, and she did it in dominant, 50-45 fashion. She bit down on her mouthpiece and countered in combination, then used the left hook to set up takedowns below the waist. Most importantly, she didn’t give up bad positions by going for the headlock throw!

Shevchenko deserves her belt back. I expect the rising tide of young talent to dethrone her again sooner than later, but this victory is still a huge testament to the champion’s willpower, grit, and professionalism.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

The Debut Of Measured Diego Lopes

I say measured, but ... Lopes still very nearly knocked out Brian Ortega in the opening minute.

Really though, the question of Lopes ahead of this fight was if the finish did not materialize, could he pace himself against an elite Featherweight? The answer, resoundingly, is yes! His standup style is a little herky-jerky and ugly at times, but he won every round without ever appearing to be in much trouble versus the opportunistic finisher.

Finally, it feels like we have a good understanding of Lopes’ full stand up game. On the feet, he has a remarkable ability to land tremendously powerful punches both on the counter and on the break of clinches. He’s not a technical boxer in the classic sense, but like Dricus Du Plessis, that doesn’t matter if he’s able to create big collisions consistently. Such was the case here: Ortega is as durable as it gets, and Lopes rocked him badly with punches on three separate occasions.

Lopes’ primary — only? — distance weapon is the calf kick. It landed to great effect in this match, limiting Ortega’s ability to jab at distance and forcing him to come forward into Lopes’ counter combinations.

Lopes presumably takes Ortega’s No. 3 spot following this win, and it’ll be really interesting to see how he matches up with likes of Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski. His stand up game feels significantly more limited than each, yet the Brazilian is far too dangerous to count out.

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A Clear-Cut FOTN

There were a ton of great fights on this card (see below), but Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics raised the bar. It was a straight up kickboxing match in four-ounce gloves, and both men brought good strategy to match their intensity.

Zellhuber is rangy for 155-pounds, and he uses that reach well. The 25 year old has a snappy jab, powerful counter punches, and an active kicking game from both stances. Ribovics, conversely, was focused on closing range, but he did so smartly. He was firing in combination and off movement, crashing forward with punches up and down the body. Often, he finished his combinations with low kicks, something you love to see from a shorter man trying to track down his opponent.

The first ten minutes were technical and high-paced. The final five, however, were absolute chaos in the best way!

It began with a Zellhuber elbow, a beautiful counter that floored Ribovics for a moment. Once back on his feet, however, the determined Argentinian kept on his combinations, and a right hand stunned Zellhuber in return! Ribovics emptied the gas tank, throwing probably 100 power punches in about 60 seconds as Zellhuber leaned on the fence and his head movement to keep himself upright.

Somehow, Zellhuber survived. Somehow, the brawl didn’t stop. The two traded until the final bell, but Ribovics’ final surge in the third secured him a hard-fought split-decision in a must-watch fight.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Mexican Brawling Spirit In The Sphere

UFC 306 featured quite a few decisions, but it wasn’t a negative. Three of those decisions were genuine bangers and deserve at least a quick mention!

1. Ronaldo Rodriguez defeats Ode Osbourne via unanimous decision: A stellar fight hampered by bad judges. Osbourned knocked Rodriguez out cold (then woke him up), which isn’t 10-8 worthy, but three minutes of back control (with some admittedly heavy punches) is? Bizarre. I also thought Osbourne landed the better shots in round three, but that’s more of a coin flip. The bottom line, however, is that this was a tremendous display of heart and grit from both Flyweights
2. Norma Dumont defeats Irene Aldana via unanimous decision: Who expected Dumont to box up the boxer? The Brazilian used movement to walk Aldana into a ton of shots, splitting open the nastiest cut in recent memory. Despite her mangled face, Aldana kept pressing and actually found her best success in the third. She’s undeniably tough as nails, but it feels like the division is passing by Aldana’s one-note approach to MMA.
3. Joshau Van defeats Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision: Watch the second round. Watch the second round right now. Chairez didn’t win, but his slow-motion, Hail Mary spinning backfist in the second round absolutely saved his bacon and is one of the all-time great reactions from a rocked fighter. Remember Thiago Santos’ panic Capoeira against Jimi Manuwa? It’s even better!

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Footwork Is Everything

Ignacio Bahamondes and Manuel Torres are both large, physically gifted young Lightweight prospects. Both men have run over lesser competition, which set expectations high ahead of this undercard clash.

It didn’t turn out to be a “Fight of the Night” brawl, however. Torres started well enough with some early explosive connections, but Bahamondes quickly proved himself the markedly sharper kickboxer by staying over his own feet. Torres was more aggressive than technical, which is often rewarded in the chaos of an MMA cage.

Bahamondes punished him for it, because he has a lot of experience (21 fights) for his age (27 years old). He wasn’t bothered by the recklessness. Instead, the 6’3” Lightweight skipped back and fired two perfect right hand counters, catching Torres as his feet were between stances. It was the Sean O’Malley special, and the timing was gorgeous to watch. The first nearly finished the ultra tough Torres, but the second counter connection left zero doubt that the fight was over.

The Chilean talent has now won five of his last six, including four stoppage victories. He’s definitely still improving and could be knocking on the door of the Top 15 sooner than later.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Additional Thoughts

• Ketlen Souza defeats Yazmin Jauregui via first-round rear naked choke (HIGHLIGHTS): Jauregui is a scrapper. She cannot help but stand her ground and trade punches. Given that she throws with good form in smart combinations, that’s generally a positive. Unfortunately, the risks grow when she comes across one of the relatively uncommon Strawweights with real knockout. It’s happened twice now that Jauregui immediately throws hard against power punchers, and twice now she’s gotten creamed in the process. At one point, she even landed an easy takedown on Souza and then allowed her back to the feet. The 25 year old obviously has talent, but she has to shore up her strategy if she’s to advance into the Top 15 at 115 lbs. As for Souza, this club-and-sub is easily the best win of her career, and she improves to 2-1 overall inside the Octagon.

For complete UFC 306 results and play-by-play, click HERE!