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Sean O'Malley has been marketed as a star since his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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While he has largely delivered on that promise, he couldn’t live up to the hype in the UFC 306 main event on Saturday night. The “Suga” show was derailed at the Sphere in Las Vegas, as he had no answer for the grappling and pressure of Merab Dvalishvili in a unanimous decision defeat in the evening’s championship headliner. O’Malley didn’t find much success until the final frame, when he hurt Dvalishvili with a front kick to the body and continued to target that area for much of the round. By then, it was too late for the MMA Lab product to sway the scorecards in his favor.

“He looked flat. He didn’t look sharp. He didn’t look crisp until the last round,” UFC CEO Dana White said at the UFC 306 post-fight press conference. “He hurt him with that body shot. He knew he hurt him with the body shot and kept going, trying to finish. I looked at the punch s…

Bo Nickal will take a step up in competition when he locks horns with Paul Craig at UFC 309.

The promotion announced the middleweight booking during the UFC 306 broadcast on Saturday night. UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York and is headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

One of the most highly-touted prospects in recent memory, Nickal has kicked off his professional tenure with six straight triumphs. The former three-time NCAA national champion from Penn State University is 3-0 in Octagon, including a second-round submission of Cody Brundage in his most recent appearance at UFC 300. That fight marked the first time Nickal has been outside of the first round in his MMA career.

Craig enters the matchup having lost four of his last five fights. He is 1-2 since moving to 185 pounds from light heavyweight and has been finished by Caio Borralho and Brendan Allen in back-to-back outings. The Scot…

Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber brought the Sphere to life with their memorable clash at UFC 306 on Saturday night.

As a result, the lightweights received “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece. Ribovics and Zellhuber traded willingly throughout the contest, culminating in a wild final frame that saw both men hurt at different points in the stanza. Ultimately, Ribovics was able to pour it on down the stretch to emerge with a split-decision triumph in a fight that will end up on plenty of year-end awards lists when all is said and done.

Elsewhere, Ignacio Bahamondes garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award for his first-round stoppage of Manuel Torres in a preliminary lightweight affair. Bahamondes was able to floor his foe with clean counters on two separate occasions, the second of which set the stage for a technical knockout victory at the 4:06 mark of Round 1.

Finally, Ketlen Souza captured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performan…

“The Machine” rolls on, and “The Suga Show” is on hiatus, at least for the time being.

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In the main event of UFC 306 inside Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili (18-4, 11-2 UFC) plied his relentless wrestling and his legendary pace and cardio to dethrone Sean O'Malley (18-2, 1 NC, 10-2, 1 NC UFC) and claim the bantamweight belt. The first round was a tense affair, with both men feeling out the range and rhythm, but the challenger landed two takedowns with relative ease in the second half of the frame, landing some solid strikes as O’Malley worked his way back to his feet and briefly threatening with a mounted guillotine choke late. Dvalishvili wasted little time bringing things back to the canvas in Round 2, timing the champ for an easy double-leg and doing work from top position for the balance of the round. By the end of the second frame, Dvalishvili was grinning and clowning, planting a kiss on the head of the seated champ and dra…

Sherdog's live UFC 306 coverage will begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Rosas Jr. (-850), Aori (+575)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Van (-218), Chairez (+180)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Tristen Critchfield scores the round:Be…

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Norma Dumont is becoming impossible to ignore in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight division.

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In the top preliminary bout of UFC 306 on Saturday at Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Dumont (12-2) took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Irene Aldana (15-8). From the outset, Aldana had difficulty finding Dumont, as she struggled with Dumont’s speed, lateral movement and diversity of strikes. The already competitive fight took on some added drama in the second round when Dumont opened up a huge cut on Aldana’s forehead. The deep, vertical gash, right between the Mexican’s eyes, immediately began pouring blood all over both fighters. The cageside physician allowed the fight to go to Round 3, and it ended up being Aldana’s best round, as she fought through the distraction of the cut and landed clean punches on the Brazilian. It was not enough to carry the day, however, and Dumont won the decision w…

Jon Jones will face Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title at #UFC309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden, UFC announced. pic.twitter.com/KzdtNoOXIx

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 14, 2024

The heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic is finally official. UFC CEO Dana White announced the title bout to Complex Sports on Saturday evening. UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden and will also see Charles Oliveira square off against Michael Chandler in a five-round, co-main event tilt.

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It’s official:@danawhite tells us @JonnyBones will return to the octagon at Madison Square Garden vs. @stipemiocic in November 😳 pic.twitter.com/CwaI14i2bc

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) September 14, 2024

A long-reigning light heavyweight champion, Jones returned to action following a three-year hiatus at UFC 285, where he claimed the vacant heavyweight crown with…

Bellator MMA has a new No. 1 contender at women's featherweight.

Fan-favorite Leah McCourt took on the undefeated Sara Collins in the Bellator London main event. "The Curse" came out looking to use her jab, but Collins (6-0) was able to strike first. The Australian put down McCourt (8-4) with a well-timed right hook. McCourt would survive some ground-and-pound, but Collins took her back and sunk in a rear-naked choke to get a submission win.

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The tap came just 2:25 into the first round and has lined up a potential fight against "Cyborg" Cristiane Justino.Powell Edges Xavier The light heavyweight co-main event saw Simeon Powell get back into the win column following his first career defeat. Powell (10-1) came out aggressive on the feet, but it was Rafael Xavier that was able to score a flash knockdown after landing a perfectly-placed front kick. More adversity would happen at the bell, as a left hook from Xavier (13-8) floored the London native. Powel…

Sherdog's live Bellator Champions Series London coverage will begin Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round: The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:The Official Result Round 1 Sherdog Scores Brian Knapp scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Mike Pendleton scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Brian Kn…

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Michael Chandler has moved on from Conor McGregor — at least for now.

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The former Bellator MMA lightweight champion will face Charles Oliveira in a rematch at UFC 309 on Nov. 16. Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing following an initial report from Barstool Sports. UFC 309 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York. A heavyweight title bout between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic is expected to headline the card, but that bout has not been confirmed by the promotion. Chandler vs. Oliveira 2 will reportedly be a five-round, co-main event.

Chandler addressed the decision to take a different opponent after waiting to face McGregor since their coaching stint on “The Ultimate Fighter 31” in the summer of 2023.

“I got more promo, more eyeballs, more of everything in the last year and half than I would have gotten in three fights, and now I get the opportunity to take a title run,” Chandler said on his YouTube channel. “I beat Ch…

Merab Dvalishvili says he wouldn't move up to 145 lbs to fight Ilia Topuria, and says Ilia "destroys" him in sparring

He also says he could potentially move down to flyweight, but doubts he'll ever challenge for a feathweight belt

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🎥 @pound4poundshow #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/ANNpuytg0p — Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 13, 2024

Merab Dvalishvili has no plans of moving up to featherweight to challenge Ilia Topuria for the 145-pound title.

Dvalishvili gets his long-awaited gold bid at bantamweight against Sean O’Malley in the main event at UFC 306 on Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas. “The Machine” will get a chance to become the second Georgian to win a UFC title after Topuria, who knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to be crowned featherweight champ at UFC 298 this past February.

O’Malley has consistently been plotting a move up to featherweight to challenge Topuria for the title if he gets past Dvalishv…

If you’re going to @spherevegas to watch @RiyadhSeason #NocheUFC, look out for the 5 Easter eggs for a chance to win $25,000!!!!! pic.twitter.com/INL15ZsaoO

— danawhite (@danawhite) September 13, 2024

Dana White recently dropped a clue about the UFC 306 Easter egg hunt worth $25,000.

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UFC 306, which goes down at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, has been confirmed by the promotion to be a one-time extravaganza. The card billed as Noche UFC Riyadh Season — marking the promotion’s first partnership with Saudi Arabia — is also a tribute to Mexico’s contribution to combat sports.

The main event will see Sean O’Malley put his bantamweight title on the line against Merab Dvalishvili. Meanwhile, Alexa Grasso defends her women’s flyweight strap against Valentina Shevchenko in the co-headliner.

The main card will have films playing, which have been termed “worlds,” with the fights as chapters in them. White recently ann…