Biggest Winners, Loser From UFC 306

UFC 306 went down last night (Sat., Sept. 14, 2024) from inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, the promotion’s second-ever “Noche UFC” event which was truly a spectacle of visuals that delivered on all fronts. In the headlining act, Merab Dvalishvili dethroned Sean O’Malley from the top of the Bantamweight ladder via a dominant unanimous decision win. In the co-main event, Alexa Grasso lost her women’s Flyweight belt after getting utterly dominated by Valentina Shevchenko, who is once again the 125-pound champion.

Biggest Winner: Merab Dvalishvili

“The Machine” finally fulfilled his UFC championship dreams by absolutely smothering and dominating Sean O’Malley to win the Bantamweight title. “Suga” had no answer for Dvalishvili’s pace, wrestling…nothing. Not only was O’Malley’s defense lacking, so was his offense because the now-former champion was never able to get anything going. But that was all due to Dvalishvili’s suffocating fighting style, which allowed him to shut “Suga” down and dictate the pace of the fight for 25 minutes. That is now 11 straight wins for “The Machine,” who can now likely look forward to a stiff test against Umar Nurmagomedov in his first title defense.

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Runner Up: Valentina Shevchenko

“Bullet” turned back the hands of time and put on a vintage performance by absolutely dominating Grasso to once again become the women’s Flyweight champion. Shevchenko looked fresh, rejuvenated and was tight with her offense. Her wrestling was on point, taking Grasso down eight times in 12 attempts and controlled the action on the ground for nearly 15 minutes. Not only did she get revenge, she more than made things right for herself since most felt she won the rematch, which was ultimately scored a split draw. Shevchenko is back in a big way.

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Honorable Mention: Diego Lopes

Diego Lopes’ stock just keeps growing after each and every fight. It got another big boost after he took it to and dominated the No. 3 ranked fighter at 145 pounds in Brian Ortega. Early in round one, Lopes looked like he was well on his way to a quick finish after stunning “T-City” with a wicked two-punch combo. Despite Ortega recovering and pushing through, Lopes pretty much took control of the fight from there, eventually dropping his foe once more in the third and final round. Lopes should be in the Top 5 come next week, which means he is one step closer to a title fight after locking down his fifth straight win inside the Octagon.

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Biggest Loser (s): Alexa Grasso & Sean O’ Malley

There were some instances in the co-main event where Grasso simply looked like she wanted no part in the fight. She looked uninterested, unbothered (not in a good way), and when she eventually showed some emotion it was that of frustration. And that was all because Shevchenko was dominating her in every aspect of the fight game. She schooled her on the feet and put on a masterclass on how to execute takedowns with ease. Grasso had no answer for “Bullet,” and her lackluster performance cost her the belt she worked so hard to obtain. While she had some shining moments from her back, the problem was that she was on her back to begin with…a lot. Now, the Mexican-born former champion will have to go back to the lab and work her way back up because another go around against Shevchenko is not in the cards after that beatdown. Now, I’m not picking on Grasso and “Suga” just because they coughed up their titles, but it’s because both didn’t offer up a whole lot of resistance toward the people who took their belts from them. O’Malley’s offense was non-existent while his opponent, Dvalshvili, showed more urgency as he was firing on all cylinders. It was truly an uninspired performance from O’Malley, who now must regroup because he will still be facing tougher challenges moving forward in what is a talent-rich weight class.

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