Merab Dvalishvili takes bantamweight belt from Sean O'Malley

Sun, 15 Sep, 2024 - 09:21

Thomson Reuters

Merab Dvalishvili earned his 11th straight win on Saturday night, upsetting one-time UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) in the main event at Riyadh Season Noche UFC in Las Vegas.

Dvalishvili (18-4-0) secured six takedowns in the victory, taking away O'Malley's potent striking ability, which won him the title in August 2023. Dvalishvili's new belt makes him the second Georgian fighter in promotional history to make it to the top of MMA, joining featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.

The loss was O'Malley's first in over four years, and it snapped a six-fight winning streak.

In his post-fight interview, Dvalishvili said he is open to fighting anyone for his first title defense, pending a conversation with UFC CEO Dana White.

Numerous submission attempts from Alexa Grasso (16-4-1) were insufficient to successfully defend her UFC women's flyweight title against long-time rival Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1) in the co-feature. Shevchenko won by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45), tying the all-time series between the fighters at one win apiece, plus a draw.

The victory gave Shevchenko the belt she previously held from December 2018 to March 2023. She won eight fights during that span.

Meanwhile, Grasso had a six-fight unbeaten streak that dated back to 2020 come to an end.

Outside the main and co-main events, UFC 306 saw a star-studded main card deliver in a big way. Diego Lopes (26-6-0) and Brian Ortega (16-4-0) traded blows for 15 minutes. Although Ortega gave his best effort, Lopes' two finishing attempts in Rounds 1 and 3 were enough to secure a unanimous decision win, 30-26, 30-27, 30-27.

The opening main card undercard bouts saw Esteban Ribovics (14-1-0) secure a closely contested split-decision win against Daniel Zellhuber (15-2-0). Zellhuber suffered his first defeat since September 2022, his UFC debut against Trey Ogden.

Ronaldo Rodriguez (17-2-0) earned a unanimous-decision victory against Ode' Osbourne (12-8-0) despite several grappling exchanges between both men in the middle portion of the fight. The win was Rodriguez's seventh in a row, while Osbourne has lost his past three bouts.