Giga Chikadze Continues Search For Next Opponent

No.8-ranked UFC featherweight Giga Chikadze recently tweeted on his desire to fight again. ‘Ninja’ tagged UFC President Dana White, matchmaker Sean Shelby, and manager Ali Abdelaziz in the post. “Who’s liver you guys want me to …

No.8-ranked UFC featherweight Giga Chikadze recently tweeted on his desire to fight again. ‘Ninja’ tagged UFC President Dana White, matchmaker Sean Shelby, and manager Ali Abdelaziz in the post. “Who’s liver you guys want me to kick?” Chikadze posted. Chikadze last fought at UFC on ESPN 32 back in January 2022. There, he lost to…

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Coach Vows: ‘No Way’ Merab Dvalishvili Suffers Ben Askren-Like Knockout At UFC 306

Heading into the biggest fight of his career, Merab Dvalishvili is preparing for a high-stakes chess match in the main event of UFC 306. Many will point to the grappling skills as the clear advantage that Dvalishvili has over the bantamweight champion,…

Heading into the biggest fight of his career, Merab Dvalishvili is preparing for a high-stakes chess match in the main event of UFC 306. Many will point to the grappling skills as the clear advantage that Dvalishvili has over the bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley. The issue is getting to “Suga” without taking significant damage requires […]

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Sean O’Malley, Aljamain Sterling, & Merab Dvalishvili Apparently Form New Fraternity

Step aside Duane Chapman, the new hunters are in town. Rather than a bounty, though, these lot are after Petr Yan… UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and rising star Sean O’Malley have one thing in common, and that’s a green …

Step aside Duane Chapman, the new hunters are in town. Rather than a bounty, though, these lot are after Petr Yan… UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and rising star Sean O’Malley have one thing in common, and that’s a green mark on their records that reads the name of “No Mercy.” While the divisional king…

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Merab Dvalishvili Told To Borrow From Pedro Munoz’s Approach Against ‘Suga’: ‘Let O’Malley Make The Mistakes…’

A lot of fans are going to be tuning into the main event of UFC 306 expecting Merab Dvalishvili to come out and fight with a very high work rate. The bantamweight contender is one of the best fighters in the sport when it comes to weaponizing his conditioning, especially over five rounds. His grappling […]

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A lot of fans are going to be tuning into the main event of UFC 306 expecting Merab Dvalishvili to come out and fight with a very high work rate.

The bantamweight contender is one of the best fighters in the sport when it comes to weaponizing his conditioning, especially over five rounds.

His grappling and relentless output is sure to be a difficult problem for the sniper-like striking of Sean O’Malley but Dvalishvili’s teammate has a different option in mind.

The former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling pointed to one of O’Malley’s past fights as a good example of how the opposite strategy can be effective against “Suga”.

Aljamain Sterling Points Out How Pedro Munhoz Had Success Against Sean O’Malley By Letting Him Go First

O’Malley’s best skillset is far and above his counter-striking, as we saw in his title defense against Marlon Vera and his bantamweight title win over Sterling.

On that night at UFC 292, “Funkmaster” made a mistake in trying to press the action and was caught during his takedown entry.

In a recent interview with Jake Noecker for Home of Fight, Sterling spoke out about how being reserved so that you aren’t giving the counter-striker many opportunities to land shots or make reads, could be an option for his long-time friend and training partner.

He pointed to O’Malley’s fight against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 as a good example of this.

Though the fight was declared a no-contest in the second round after Munhoz couldn’t continue from an eye poke, he won the opening stanza on two of the three scorecards by fighting with a much more calculated and controlled approach.

“I think it’s gonna come down to a patience game. I think if Merab implements the same game plan that I used in the first round, just make it a slow fight, let O’Malley be the one to make mistakes. He’s used to people chasing him and he’s a very good counter fighter so don’t give him what he needs which is what the game plan was in our fight.

“So just speaking to Merab, letting him know those are his keys to victory. You watch his fight with Pedro Munhoz, it’s a very slow paced fight, not much happens if you don’t give him what he wants and I think anyone who’s an analyst in the sport knows what he’s good at, knows what he needs to have to have success. You take those tools away from him then he doesn’t really, I don’t want to say he doesn’t really have much but we haven’t seen that side of him. Having to be the aggressor when his opponent is not hurt.”

Read also: Sean O’Malley’s Coach On Henry Cejudo: ‘Thinks He’s God’s Gift…’ 

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Noche UFC 306: Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili Weigh-In Live Stream & Results

Noche UFC (UFC 306) takes place tomorrow night, and MMA News is here to bring you the official weigh-in results! After staging its latest pay-per-view event Down Under in Perth, Australia last month, the promotion’s September offering sees a first-of-its-kind show inside the unique surroundings of the Sphere. Tasked with aiding in an unforgettable night […]

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Noche UFC (UFC 306) takes place tomorrow night, and MMA News is here to bring you the official weigh-in results!

After staging its latest pay-per-view event Down Under in Perth, Australia last month, the promotion’s September offering sees a first-of-its-kind show inside the unique surroundings of the Sphere.

Tasked with aiding in an unforgettable night are a pair of championship headliners, the second of which will see bantamweight kingpin Sean O’Malley top the lineup in defense of his gold against the in-form Merab Dvalishvili.

The Mexican Independence Day celebration will also see one of the country’s own defending her title, with Alexa Grasso completing her trilogy with all-time great Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event.

Elsewhere, fast-rising featherweight fan favorite Diego Lopes and former two-time title challenger Brian Ortega give their matchup a second go, while the likes of Irene Aldana and Raul Rosas Jr. also take to the cage.

Noche UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili Weigh-In Results

Noche UFC 306 takes place Saturday, September 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card begins at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT, with the preliminary card starting at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT.

See above for a live stream of the Noche UFC 306 weigh-ins via MMA Fighting, commencing at 12 p.m. ET, and check out the full results below!

Main Card:

  • Bantamweight Championship Main Event: Sean O’Malley (C) vs. Merab Dvalishvili
  • Flyweight Championship Co-Main Event: Alexa Grasso (C) vs. Valentina Shevchenko
  • Featherweight: Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
  • Lightweight: Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics
  • Flyweight: Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Ode’ Osbourne

Preliminary Card:

  • Bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng
  • Bantamweight: Irena Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
  • Lightweight: Manuel Torres vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
  • Flyweight: Edgar Cháirez vs. Kevin Borjas
  • Strawweight: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza

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Sean O’Malley ‘Little Annoyed-ish’ Over Merab Dvalishvili Fight Promotion As He Headlines UFC 306 Over Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria & Conor McGregor

Sean O’Malley will defend his UFC bantamweight championship against Merab Dvalishvili at Riyadh Season Noche UFC in the Las Vegas Sphere on September 14, 2024. The event will celebrate Mexican Independence Day and UFC CEO Dana White has promised unprecedented production quality. With a spectacular win at The Sphere, O’Malley can significantly boost his popularity […]

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Sean O’Malley will defend his UFC bantamweight championship against Merab Dvalishvili at Riyadh Season Noche UFC in the Las Vegas Sphere on September 14, 2024. The event will celebrate Mexican Independence Day and UFC CEO Dana White has promised unprecedented production quality.

With a spectacular win at The Sphere, O’Malley can significantly boost his popularity in MMA circles and draw new fans. However, his opponent has won ten consecutive fights in the UFC with relentless pressure and dominant wrestling.

Amidst the gradually increasing hype for his next fight, “Suga” revealed his mixed feelings about headlining a massive card like UFC 306…

Sean O’Malley Expects The UFC To Promote His Fight And Not Just The Sphere In The Lead-Up To UFC 306

O’Malley talked about the opportunity to headline a card as massive as UFC 306 on Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast recently. With UFC 305 done and dusted, the UFC bantamweight champ acknowledges that Riyadh Season Noche UFC will soon get all the eyes.

“I’m very excited. Now that it’s like, you know, the last fight, the pay-per-view is last weekend so now it’s, you know, it’s always the next pay-per-view, that’s being talked about so now that that fight’s over, we got The Sphere coming up.”

“Suga” realizes his fight with Dvalishvili is the UFC 306 main event over Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, now scheduled for UFC 308. Conor McGregor was also rumored to be added to the card. He’s naturally honored to get this chance from the UFC but expects the promotions to improve as the event approaches.

O’Malley highlighted that the UFC has promoted The Sphere and the event’s theme more than the fighters, including him and Dvalishvili. However, he looks forward to things getting better once promotion on social media begins.

“A little annoyed-ish about the promotion of The Sphere. The Sphere is the show. I’m the one doing interviews, not The Sphere. Let’s promote Sean vs. Merab, the Suga show. I’m the one fighting let’s go baby. But, you know, it is what it is. The Sphere is going to be f*****g legendary, it’ll be epic, it’ll be cool. But yeah I think these next few weeks are really going to, you know, things are still going to start coming out. ESPN Will start posting, UFC will Start Posting. So, it’s going to feel big soon.

“Suga” leaves no opportunity to take sly digs at his opponents through funny skits and memes on social media platforms. He’s also fulfilling his media responsibilities as a UFC champion, which explains his aforementioned expectations from the promotion.

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley ‘Little Annoyed-ish’ Over Merab Dvalishvili Fight Promotion As He Headlines UFC 306 Over Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria & Conor McGregor at MMA News.