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While the UFC 306 headliner was largely a clear-cut victory for Merab Dvalishvili, the bout also included a couple of unusual moments.

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The first occurred early in Round 1, when referee Herb Dean halted the bout to warn both Dvalishvili and Tim Welch for their interactions during the fight. According to Dvalishvili, Sean O'Malley’s coach was trying to distract him from his cageside position.

“I’m a professional fighter,” Dvalishvili said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m focused and it never happens to me. I never pay attention to other corner. But Tim’s voice was very familiar because he was doing the same thing to [Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292]. There’s the clip on social media everybody saw that. He was doing the same thing. He was doing already, disrespectful, ‘Merab, you’ve got to go.’

“He was talking s—t to me. I told him, ‘Stop it.’ Nobody was telling him to stop. He just kept doing this. If you do the same thing in basketball or s…

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 1 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 Knapp …

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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…

[embedded content] UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is pulling out all the stops for its highly-anticipated UFC 306 card, which will take place from The Sphere in Las Vegas and now the card is official after the weigh-ins took place.

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The historic card will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Sean O'Malley and top contender Merab Dvalishvili. Both men made championship weight, as did women's flyweight champ Alexa Grasso and former 125-pound queen Valentina Shevchenko for their five-round co-main event. All other fighters also made their contracted weights.

One of the biggest stars in the sport, O'Malley (18-1, 1 NC) is coming off an impressive title defense over Marlon Vera, avenging the lone defeat of his career. "Suga" has been unbeaten in his last seven fights and holds victories over Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. The 29-year-old weighed 135 pou…

𝙈𝘼𝙄𝙉 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝙊𝙁𝙁𝙄𝘾𝙄𝘼𝙇!

Leah McCourt and Sara Collins both officially made weight ahead of their featherweight no.1 contender bout tomorrow night! #BellatorLondon | TOMORROWLive on DAZN & MAX | 5:30PM BST pic.twitter.com/qkGWuioF68

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 13, 2024 Bellator MMA wraps up its busy September by returning to the United Kingdom for Bellator London.

All fighters, including headliners Leah McCourt and Sara Collins, successfully made weight. However, one fight was scrapped with no exact reason given. The official X account announced that "Eman Almudhaf vs. Daiane Silva is off the card." As a result, the card will proceed with nine fights.

McCourt (8-3) enters the main event off a TKO win over Sara McMann. It was a bounce-back win for "The Curse," as the Northern Ireland fighter previously lost a decision to Cat Zingano. McCourt officially weighed 145.9 pounds for the featherweight main event.

Mean…

Leah McCourt wants the fight she’s already earned and deserved: she wants Cris Cyborg. After Cyborg’s last win at Bellator 300 last year, McCourt, who also won earlier that night, entered the cage and faced off with the featherweight champion. However, to start 2024, the fight was not booked and McCourt is back again to prove herself as the top contender.

At Bellator Champions Series London this weekend, McCourt returns to take on undefeated prospect Sara Collins, while Cyborg prepares for her pay-per-view showdown with Larissa Pacheco at Professional Fighters League’s “Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact” PPV set for Oct. 19. Talking with the media ahead of Saturday, McCourt reiterated her desire to fight the Brazilian and how prepared she is to prove her place after dealing with a serious injury.

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After a scheduled middleweight title fight between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards was pulled from Bellator London, McCourt’s bout against Collins w…

Luke Trainer is knocking on the door of light heavyweight contention in Bellator MMA, but his goal and purpose is much more defined by what he’s doing outside of the cage. Trainer, whose parents have fostered children since he was 12-years old, has just as much focus on creating foster homes than he does his fighting career. So much so, he’s prepared to stop fighting when he’s made enough money to achieve those goals.

Talking with reporters at this week’s Bellator Champions Series London media day, Trainer explained that his focus on creating foster homes is something he takes just as seriously as a fight camp.

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“I do a bunch of work with schools now. I work with children in care. My role is to go in there as a mentor figure, teach them martial arts, and then we have time after the session where they can confide in me. I’m just an outside party where I can give advice or just be a listening ear. Actually, after this fight, [I’m going to] get the win, …

Highly-touted prospect Paul Hughes will be taking a significant step up in competition for his next fight.

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A lightweight clash pitting Hughes against A.J. McKee has been targeted for Professional Fighters League’s upcoming pay-per-view event on Oct. 19. MagicM MMABets first brought word of the pairing on Aug. 13, and it was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. The promotion formally announced the bout on Sept. 12.

The PFL Super Fights Event, entitled "Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact,"is headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira. In the co-main event, Cristiane Justino will square off against Larissa Pacheco. The card will air on pay-per-view through ESPN+.

A former Cage Warriors champion, Hughes ended a high-profile free agent period by signing with the PFL. He made his debut with Bellator – which is also owned by PFL – on June 22, when he defeated Bobby King via second-round TKO. “Big News” has won s…

Here’s a 4 minute live beaming demonstration Proto founder @theNuzzy did on TikTok yesterday. Proto Hologram technology being used in the education, healthcare, artificial intelligence, language translation, and entertainment categories discussed. Watch and comment please. pic.twitter.com/IxBjkWsgyt

— Proto Hologram (@ProtoHologram) July 27, 2024 UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

Ahead of the blockbuster September show, the Ultimate Fighting Championship dipped into the science fiction bucket for a little extra flair.

According to a press release by the UFC and Proto Inc. on Thursday, the promotion will be setting up a series of holograms. The individuals, including UFC chief Dana White, will appear on life-size screens that can interact with fans and the general public. While the release stated “top names from the UFC roster will appear” those names have not been disclosed. These machines will be …

Make weight, order @Wingstop, win fights, repeat. 🍗

Don’t miss @RiyadhSeason #NocheUFC on September 14th! pic.twitter.com/52dUvsTusY

— UFC (@ufc) September 11, 2024

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event at the Sphere is proving to be quite lucrative for the Las Vegas-based promotion.

According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, UFC 306 will have more sponsorships and sponsorship revenue than any previous event. All told, there will be 34 sponsors for the card, which is the first sporting event to be held at the Sphere. This includes newcomers such as Wingstop, Dude Wipes, apparel company True Classic, investment app Autopilot, Finnish mobile game developer Supercell and Sony Pictures.

To put it into perspective, sponsorship revenue for UFC 306 will more than double the previous record set at UFC 300 in April, per the report.UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now! Read more about Report: UFC 306 to Set Promotion Records for Sponsorships, Sponsorship Revenue

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Sean O'Malley has been earmarked for stardom ever since the “Sugar Show” arrived on Dana White's Contender Series in 2017.

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The question is, how high can he climb? According to the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, he’s already near the top of the mountain. During UFC 306 media day on Wednesday, O’Malley acknowledged that Conor McGregor remains the promotion’s biggest draw. However, the Irishman’s lack of activity and success has made him a more attainable target in recent years.

"I think I'm close [to catching McGregor]," O'Malley said. "I think Conor still has one more big fight in him, but the big question mark is if he can come back and beat Michael Chandler. I think Conor has one more huge fight. But if he goes out and loses his next fight, that's like six in a row or something? [His star power] has to die down eventually. Maybe not. But that's a big testament to how big of a star he is. If he loses, I'm there. I'm the guy…

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Brian Ortega doesn’t think his fight against Diego Lopes will go the distance.

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Ortega was preparing for a move to lightweight when he accepted a featherweight booking against Lopes on two weeks’ notice at UFC 303 this past June. When Ortega faced trouble cutting weight, Lopes accepted the fight at lightweight. However, Ortega had to pull out on fight night.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Dan Ige replaced Lopes on four hours’ notice at a catchweight of 165 pounds, dropping an entertaining unanimous decision. Ortega has since expressed his admiration for both Ige and Lopes for agreeing to fight on four hours’ notice.

Ortega’s booking against Lopes has been remade for UFC 306, which goes down at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday. Ortega notes that they are both evenly matched on the ground as well as on the feet to an extent that he is almost fighting a slightly different version of himself.UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvil…

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UFC 306 keeps getting more and more interesting.

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It is well known that the Noche UFC Riyadh Season card, which goes down at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, will be the promotion’s first and only venture at the venue. The promotion has already made known that there will be films playing on the entire media plane with the fights as chapters of the films.

Dana White recently revealed another surprise for viewers within those films. The UFC head honcho announced a $25,000 reward for anyone who can spot all the “Easter eggs” that will be there in the films. White also confirmed that the Easter eggs will be related to the event, which is a tribute to Mexico’s contribution to combat sports.

UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“There are also going to be Easter eggs in each one of these films,” White said during the post-fight press conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday night. “We’…

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Diego Lopes recently shared details about his move to Mexico, where he has now found a new home.

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Having started training jiu-jitsu very early in his career, Lopes made his MMA debut at the age of 17 and fought five times within the span of a year. However, things weren’t going well for Lopes academically, forcing him to chose between studying and working.

So when someone approached him with a job in Mexico as a jiu-jitsu instructor, Lopes couldn’t refuse — although he had no idea about the culture or language of that country. At 19 years of age, Lopes left his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for Puebla, Mexico. The Portuguese-speaking Lopes also had initial trouble communicating with his students, forcing him to quickly learn Spanish.

“School wasn’t going well for me,” Lopes recently said on UFC Connected. “One day my mom said, ‘Either you work or you study. What do you want to do?’ But I wanted to keep fighting to stay on the path…