The Las Vegas Sphere now officially has two title fights scheduled for this fall.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the full Sept. 14 card for UFC 306, which will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will fight for the third time in the co-main event. UFC 306 will be the first combat sports event to take place at the new venue located just off the Las Vegas Strip.
O’Malley first won the bantamweight title with a TKO win over Aljamain Sterling last fall. He also successfully defended that title with a unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera in March. The 29-year-old will come into his fight against Dvalishvili with a record of 18-1 with 12 KOs. He has also won six consecutive fights dating back to 2021, with the exception of a no contest against Pedro Munhoz.
On the other hand, Dvalishvili has been looking for a title fight for quite some time now. He’s on an incredible 10-fight win streak dating back to 2018, and he last beat Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision at UFC 298 earlier this year. The 33-year-old has a 17-4 record with three knockouts in his career.
The co-main event in which Grasso will defend her women’s flyweight title against former champion Shevchenko will mark the third straight fight between the two. Grasso beat Shevchenko to claim the flyweight belt for the first time in March 2023 with a fourth-round submission, then defended that title in a rematch that ended in a draw last fall. Grasso will enter with a 16-3-1 record. Shevchenko, who held the title for years before her first loss to Grasso, is 23-4-1 with eight KOs.
UFC 306 Card
Here’s a look at the fights scheduled so far for UFC 306.
Raúl Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng
Yazmin Jáuregui vs. Kelten Souza
Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Chairez
Irene Aldana vs Norma Dumont
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez
Esteban Ribovics vs Daniel Zelluber
Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopez
Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili