One of the biggest events in MMA history is set to go down tonight as UFC 306 takes over The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Promoter Dana White has declared war on boxing and the MGM group, who gave up the UFC’s usual haunt of T-Mobile Arena for Mexican Independence Day weekend. He has plunged over $20million into staging the show, which goes head to head in Las Vegas with Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga.
Much of the promotion has centred around the massive 160,000 square foot display inside The Sphere, which has yet to welcome a sporting event. But there are also two major world title fights inside the octagon, as well as a string of top Mexican fighters.
In the main event, Sean O’Malley defends his bantamweight title against top contender Merab Dvalishvili. The pair have shared a bitter feud dating back to before O’Malley stopped his rival’s teammate Aljamain Sterling in the summer of last year, and now settle it on the biggest possible stage.
The co-main event sees Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko continue their unorthodox trilogy. Prior to Grasso winning the belt from Shevchenko, the former champ had seemed unbeatable, and the result was one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
Their rematch at last year’s Noche UFC ended in a controversial draw.
An exciting undercard sees eight more major fights with serious implications across the divisions, kicking off with the return of exciting youngster Raul Rosas Jr.
- Who is Dana White? All you need to know about the CEO and President of the UFC
Sean O’Malley misses his chance to speak
Unfortunately Merab’s speech goes long, and O’Malley doesn’t get a chance to address the crowd.
[Link]Merab Dvalishvili declares he is ‘the best fighter in the UFC’
He insists that after the struggle of making weight, he felt that today was a normal one. He didn’t feel like he was fighting for UFC gold. He shouts out his team and declares that he ‘made O’Malley look normal’.
[Link]Merab Dvalishvili beats Sean O’Malley by UD
We have a new world champion; Merab Dvalishvili! He’s immediately up on top of the octagon celebrating!
[Link]Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili – Round 5
Tim Welch remaining calm in the O’Malley corner as he coaches his man towards the final round. After an impressive round from Merab they’re on their feet and O’Malley is getting to work on the body! But it’s too little too late for the champ and we should have a new one very soon!
[Link]Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili – Round 4
Merab has O’Malley down again now! It’s not pretty but this has been impressive and dominant from the challenger. O’Malley really finding it tough to get up here. He’ll need a knockout in the fifth.
[Link]Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili – Round 3
Better defensive wrestling from O’Malley this round, but he is still very much on the back foot. Merab’s style is a nightmare for somebody like O’Malley. The champ has stuffed 6 out of the 9 takedown attempts made, but that’s still losing him rounds. Right at the end of the round O’Malley gets his first big combination off. Probably 3-0 Merab.
[Link]Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili – Round 2
Merab has O’Malley on his back now, not where the champion wants to be. O’Malley grabbed inside Merab’s glove and instantly in trouble with Herb Dean. Really tough round for O’Malley. I have it 2-0 for Merab.
[Link]Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili – Round 1
We are underway and there’s instantly some sort of incident between Merab and the referee relating to O’Malley’s corner. Otherwise, a relatively close fight to this point, arguably Merab’s round.
[Link]Valentina Shevchenko beats Alexa Grasso by UD
AND NEW…
The strawweight title is heading back home with Valentina Shevchenko as she completely dominates Alexa Grasso in our co-main event. Super boring fight, but the former champ did what she needed to win.
[Link]Next chapter of the movie pays tribute to Alexa Grasso
This is a huge night for the Mexican starlet
[Link]Diego Lopes beats Brian Ortega by UD
The hotly-anticipated featherweight clash sees Lopes continue his winning run!
[Link]Esteban Ribovics beats Daniel Zellhuber by SD
After a phenomenal third round, Ribovics takes a razor-close decision. That was awesome, but it will prove controversial!
[Link]Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber up next
Big action expected up at lightweight in this clash.
[Link]Ronaldo Rodriguez beats Ode Osbourne by UD
Three more rounds on the clock and we go the distance again! Rodriguez gets the win!
[Link]Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez kicks off our main card
A big fight for the flyweight division to get us going for the main card!
[Link]Norma Dumont beats Irene Aldana by UD
HUGE win for the Brazilian as she moves but to the top five at bantamweight! Massive end to the prelims!
[Link]The Sphere begins to come to life
The backdrop changes for our featured prelim as Irene Aldana takes on Norma Dumont!
[Link]Ignacio Bahamondes KOs Manuel Torres in R1
Huge moment as we get our first knockout of the night at The Sphere!
[Link]Ketlen Souza SUBS Yazmin Jauregui
We have our first stoppage of the night and what a moment it is as Souza sends Jauregui to sleep with a monster upset!
[Link]We move straight on to another fight
The pacing is solid tonight, Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza on now.
[Link]Joshua Van beats Edgar Chairez by UD
Our second result of the night, a slightly more exciting fight!
[Link]Raul Rosas Jr beats Qileng Aori by UD
Unanimous Decision victory for Raul Rosas Jr in the opening fight!
[Link]Qileng Aori is the first fighter to make the walk at The Sphere
So far, the big screen display isn’t showing us anything too crazy!
[Link]Show time!
Joe Rogan remembers his first UFC show in 1997 in Dothan, Alabama. Now, he is set for tonight’s monster event in The Sphere!
[Link]We are about to get underway
The movie of the night is set to begin, and we are going to be treated to Raul Rosas Jr against Qileng Aori as our sole early prelim.
[Link]How will fighters deal with the new venue layout?
We spoke to Norma Dumont this week, and she admitted there are concerns about it
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How to watch UFC 306 live
The early prelim kicks off at 4.30pm local time, and they are available on UFC Fight Pass. From there, the prelims will start half an hour later live on ESPN+ in the US and TNT Sports in the UK. The main card begins at 7pm local time.
British viewers staying up will be able to watch the entire event as part of their TNT Sports subscription, but American viewers will have to pay a steep fee. ESPN+ will stream the event live on PPV at a price of $79.99 on top of a standard ESPN+ subscription.
[Link]What can we expect tonight?
It’s going to be anything but your average UFC fight night or pay-per-view tonight. Dana White has put together a story of Mexico’s fighting heritage to be displayed on the massive 160,000-square-foot screen in The Sphere.
As for the fights, we are still not 100 per cent sure of the arena’s layout. The promotion have kept the venue under lock and key, with surprises abound!
[Link]Welcome to our UFC 306 live blog
Good evening and welcome to the Bloody Elbow live blog from UFC 306. My name is Donagh Corby and I am going to have all the results coming to you.
We’re also going to have some inside footage and photos from The Sphere as our reporter James Sweetnam is on the scene in Las Vegas.
It’s going to be an exciting, star-studded evening at the famous venue, with two world titles on the line. We’re excited to bring you all the action throughout the night.
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