“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 drawing an angry swipe
from O’Malley as the round expired. The tide appeared to be turning
in the middle round, as Dvalishvili failed to secure a takedown for
the first time all night, and the champ landed several clean, hard
strikes as the shorter man tried to close the distance. O’Malley’s
momentum carried over to Round 4, as he sniped from the outside
over the first two minutes, landing a couple of body shots and a
right hand up top that appeared to hurt “The Machine.” Dvalishvili
scored a takedown before the midpoint of Round 4, however, and went
right back to work chipping away with short strikes and threatening
to pass O’Malley’s guard. Late in the round, Dvalishvili landed a
series of blows to O’Malley while the champ was seated against the
fence that appeared to do damage, as O’Malley made it back to his
feet but was visibly hurt. With his belt likely five minutes away
from changing hands, O’Malley came out aggressive to start the
final round, but while he marched down his foe, he hesitated to
throw the strikes that could have swung the fight in his favor.
When Dvalishvili landed yet another takedown, it might have
portended the end of the champ’s chances at retaining, but O’Malley
returned to his feet quickly and came alive, stinging Dvalishvili
with front kicks, punches and a well-timed intercepting knee up the
middle. With under a minute to go, O’Malley showed a sense of
urgency but couldn’t make anything happen before the final
horn.
The judges rendered their decision in favor of Dvalishvili via
49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 scores, extending his win streak to 11
straight and minting him the newest UFC men’s bantamweight champ.
With the loss, O’Malley does not figure to fall too far from the
title picture, given his star power and elite skills.
Shevchenko Dominates Grasso to Regain Belt
The greatest fighter in women’s flyweight history proved that she
is not quite done compiling her legendary résumé, as she put on a
dominant performance against Alexa
Grasso, the woman who dethroned her last year and retained the
belt thanks to a draw in their rematch. Shevchenko (23-4-1, 13-3-1
UFC) leaned early and often on her elite, yet sometimes overlooked
wrestling and top position grappling, grounding Grasso in all five
rounds, racking up three full rounds’ worth of control time, and
frankly making it look easy along the way. Grasso (16-4-1, 8-4-1
UFC) had a few bright moments, including delivering submission
scares to Shevchenko in Rounds 2 and 4, but for the most part it
was the “Bullet” show for five rounds at Sphere. The cageside
judges concurred, scoring the fight for Shevchenko by unanimous
50-45 tallies. With the win, Shevchenko recaptured the UFC
flyweight belt with which she is practically synonymous; whether
the first title defense of her second reign will be against Grasso,
whose series with Shevchenko stands at 1-1-1, or against surging
Manon
Fiorot, who was present in Las Vegas and weighed in as a backup
for Saturday’s championship fight, will remain to be seen.
Lopes Batters Ortega
Diego
Lopes (26-6, 6-1 UFC) took a huge step forward in the
featherweight pecking order, battering and bruising a game but
overmatched Brian
Ortega (16-4, 1 NC’ 8-4, 1 NC UFC) for three rounds. Their
delayed matchup, which had been scheduled to take place six weeks
ago but was postponed due to a fight-day illness on the part of
Ortega, saw Lopes jump all over Ortega early in Round 1, rocking
the veteran contender with clean punches, dropping him and swarming
for the finish. Ortega weathered the storm, however, and tied up
Lopes in his vaunted guard, buying himself time to get back into
the fight. By the time the first round expired, Ortega was behind
but still very much in the fight. Ortega came back strong in Round
2, but Lopes’ speed, power and combination punching were simply too
much. Making matters worse, Lopes’ calf kicks took a steady toll on
Ortega’s left leg, leaving him badly swollen and limping by round’s
end. The final frame offered more of the same, with Ortega marching
forward and trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but
unable to keep up with the red-hot rising contender Lopes. A
damaging flurry in the closing moments put a stamp on the
proceedings for Lopes, who prevailed by 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27
scores. Lopes’ fifth straight win in the UFC likely left him on the
short list for a shot at featherweight champ Ilia
Topuria; the lopsided loss for Ortega left him further than
ever from title contention.
Ribovics Nips Zellhuber in Epic Scrap
A good case could be made that the real winners of the Esteban
Ribovics–Daniel
Zellhuber clash were the fans, as the two lightweights combined
to produce a potential “Fight of the Year” and “Round of the Year.”
Ribovics (14-1) and Zellhuber (15-2) were already well on their way
to an entertaining, closely fought bout through the first two
rounds, both of which could easily have been scored for either
fighter. Things went supernova in Round 3, however, as Zellhuber
dropped Ribovics with a spinning elbow strike. The Argentinean got
back to his feet, rocked Zellhuber with a huge right hand, and
spent the next minute-plus chasing him around the cage, piling on
dozens of unanswered strikes as referee Jason Herzog looked on
closely. Incredibly, Zellhuber not only survived the onslaught, but
recovered his wits sufficiently to get the better of some
last-second exchanges right before the final horn. The Sphere crowd
made its approval heard as the two lightweight warriors raised
their hands in triumph, but it was Ribovics who had his hand raised
after the official scores were read, having prevailed by split
scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29. The victory left Ribovics’ UFC
record at 3-1, while Zellhuber’s promotional mark fell to 3-2 in
defeat.
Rodriguez Outduels Osbourne
In the main card opener, Ronaldo
Rodriguez (17-2) outdueled Ode
Osbourne (12-8) in a tilt that was competitive as a whole, but
lopsided from one round to the next, as the flyweights took turns
walloping each other. “The Jamaican Sensation” got off to a great
start, flooring Rodriguez with a right hand and nearly finishing
things right there with a couple of pinpoint follow-up strikes.
Rodriguez survived but spent the balance of the round in
desperation mode, fighting off a deep triangle choke. Even after
extricating himself from the triangle, Rodriguez arguably lost the
remainder of the round from top position, as Osbourne threw
effective elbows and punches from his back. Rodriguez got his
revenge in Round 2, however, sniffing out a guillotine attempt by
Osbourne, reversing him and spending the balance of the round
mauling Osbourne from back mount. With the fight likely still up
for grabs, the flyweights collaborated on a competitive Round 3,
with both men having moments of success. After a bout with
potential 10-8 rounds turned in by both fighters, Rodriguez
prevailed by 29-28, 29-27 and 29-27 scorecards, bringing his record
to 2-0 in the UFC; Osbourne fell to 4-6 with the promotion.