Tag: UFC 306

Sean O’Malley eyes UFC 306 knockout, 145-pound title shot, then ‘a big boxing fight’

Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has some big plans after UFC 306.

Bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] has some big plans after UFC 306.

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defends his title against Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the Noche UFC main event Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

If he can get past Dvalishvili, O’Malley has his sights set on the winner of the featherweight title fight between champion Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway at UFC 308 on Oct. 26. If he’s able to become UFC dual-champion, O’Malley says a boxing fight should be undeniable.

“I beat Merab – knock him out viciously, boom, land a couple of extra shots before the ref can get in. Then Ilia (and) Max fight, and I’ll fight the winner of whoever wins that,” O’Malley said on the DeepCut podcast. “If Max wins, he’s the ’45-pound champ and BMF. If Ilia wins, he’s the ’45 and BMF. Moving up would be a massive, massive fight for the company, for the UFC.

“I want to get a big boxing fight. I want Gervonta Davis. I want Ryan Garcia. I want a big boxing fight. I’ve got to earn that big boxing fight. The way I do that is by going up a weight class and knocking one of those guys out. You can’t deny me a boxing fight if I go out there and knock Merab out, knock Ilia out or Max out. You can’t deny that. You’ve got to give me that boxing fight.”

UFC fighters don’t usually have the flexibility to box, but an exception was made for Conor McGregor when he laced up the gloves against Floyd Mayweather in 2017. A budding star, O’Malley thinks he could also earn a big opportunity like that if his plans go accordingly.

“People hate when I bring up boxing,” O’Malley said. “They hate it, and I’m fine with that. They can hate on it, but if I do that, you’ve got to give it to me. You’ve got to say, ‘OK, you get that.’ That’s kind of where my head’s at.

“That same delusional 16-year-old that would’ve told everyone I’m going to be in the UFC, I’m going to be the champ and defend the belt, they think I’m crazy, are the same people that think I’m crazy for even saying that. People have been saying that my whole life. That doesn’t affect me or make me feel any certain way, like, ‘Oh, maybe that can’t happen.’ That doesn’t even make sense to me. Anything can happen.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Manon Fiorot tabbed as Alexa Grasso-Valentina Shevchenko trilogy backup at UFC 306, coach says

The UFC 306 co-main event has an insurance policy in Manon Fiorot, who is getting the backup spot she wanted.

The UFC 306 co-main event has an insurance policy in [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag].

Fiorot’s coach, Aldric Cassata, told French media outlet Boxemag.com on Wednesday that his fighter has been tabbed as the backup for the trilogy between women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

“Manon is officially (planned as) the backup for the belt,” Cassata said, although the UFC has yet to make an announcement. “She will be in Vegas.”

Cassata also confirmed Fiorot’s status to MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun.

Fiorot, 34, carries a 12-1 overall record after winning 12 fights in a row since her lone defeat to Leah McCourt in her professional debut in 2018, including a 7-0 mark in the UFC. Fiorot’s push for a title shot gained major traction after her two most recent wins against former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas last September and most recently a clean sweep in a headliner with Erin Blanchfield this past March.

Back in April, shortly after her win over Blanchfield, Fiorot said in an interview with MMA Junkie that she would prefer being a backup to Grasso vs. Shevchenko rather than accept another fight while waiting for the trilogy to happen.

“If I have to choose, the best choice for me is to be the backup on the fight,” Fiorot said through an interpreter. “I think it’s a good thing if someone, Valentina or Alexa, have an injury or miss weight. I think the best choice for me now is to be backup for this fight so I can see the fight and perhaps do a faceoff after against the winner. … I think I deserve it.”

Apparently so does the UFC.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.

UFC champ Sean O’Malley relishes chance to steal headlines from Canelo Alvarez

Sean O’Malley is “feeling good as f*ck” about his UFC 306 fight with Merab Dvalishvili and going head-to-head with Canelo Alvarez.

UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] relishes the opportunity to go head-to-head with [autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag].

On the same night O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defends his title against [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas, Alvarez (61-2-2) defends his WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga (22-0) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

One of the biggest stars in the UFC, O’Malley wants to ensure that it’s his name everyone is talking about after Sept. 14.

“I’m so f*cking excited for this fight,” O’Malley said on his “TimboSugaShow” podcast. “I wasn’t actually very excited for the Aljo fight. I was stressed about that fight, just because my rib (injury), my training camp wasn’t the best. It was good for what we had, and then it’s like, this is hard. This fight, I’m feeling good as f*ck. I love this matchup. He’s got a 10-fight winning streak. It’s a big fight. It’s at the Sphere, it’s in competition with boxing, which is just kind of an extra little layer.

“When it comes to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, who are they talking about? Are they talking about Canelo? Are they talking about the boxing fight? Or are they talking about the absolute dominating, beautiful, masterful, masterclass performance that I put on Merab and the viral knockout that came with it? Or are they talking about a 36-minute Canelo boxing fight that was kind of fire? That’s what excites me. It’s the competition of who are they talking about Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Who stole the headlines? Me.”

O’Malley, who dethroned Dvalishvili’s training partner Aljamain Sterling with a viral knockout at UFC 292, notched his first title defense with a shutout of Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Canelo Alvarez isn’t worried about going head-to-head with UFC 306 in Las Vegas

Canelo Alvarez doesn’t expect his Sept. 14 boxing match to struggle for business just because it’s going head-to-head with the UFC.

[autotag]Canelo Alvarez[/autotag] doesn’t expect his boxing match to struggle for business just because it’s going head-to-head with the UFC.

Alvarez (61-2-2) defends his WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga (22-0) on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the same day that Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defends his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 306 main event at Sphere. Both events are taking place to celebrate Mexican Independence Day weekend.

One of boxing’s biggest stars, Alvarez is unfazed by the UFC as competition. Noche UFC is sponsored by Riyadh Season, which was launched by Saudi Arabian Royal Court adviser turned boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh. Alvarez and Alalshikh were recently involved in a public back-and-forth over a failed negotiation.

“It’s just different,” Alvarez said on the “MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME” podcast. “Yeah, maybe other boxing matches (would suffer against the UFC). Maybe. Canelo is just different. I don’t care if the UFC is there. When Canelo fights, it’s different.”

This won’t be the first time Alvarez goes head-to-head with the UFC. In November 2019, DAZN delayed Alvarez’s superfight against WBO light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev by more than an hour to avoid clashing with UFC 244, which was headlined by a BMF title fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. Alvarez vs. Kovalev only started after Masvidal vs. Diaz concluded.

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Merab Dvalishvili: Sean O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch ‘was very disrespectful to me’

Merab Dvalishvili takes issue with Tim Welch’s comments ahead of his fight vs. Sean O’Malley.

[autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] takes issue with [autotag]Tim Welch[/autotag]’s comments ahead of his fight vs. [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag].

Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) challenges bantamweight champion O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) Sept. 14 in the UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas. O’Malley’s head coach Welch has given Dvalishvili his flowers in terms of skillset, but predicted a first-round knockout for “The Suga Show.”

Dvalishvili is not happy with Welch’s words – including a video that recently surfaced where Welch impersonated Aljamain Sterling’s corner, urging him that he has to go in his title fight vs. O’Malley at UFC 292. Seconds later, Sterling lunged in and was knocked out by O’Malley.

“I have a problem with his coach, Tim,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “He was very disrespectful to me and he was doing stupid and not respectful (things). Any real coach should never do that, whatever he was doing. Try do the same thing in basketball or let’s try to do the same thing in a football game. They will give you a disqualification. Only the UFC you can get out of this. Coach your guy, coach your fighter. Don’t be disrespectful to the opponent.

“What kind of people does this? Only a snake people does this. Even now he’s talking on his podcast, like making fun of my height, making fun of my nose, even now some fans send some stupid things. Nothing is real. He’s making up some stories about me which is not true. He deserves to smack his face. That’s what I told Sean O’Malley, ‘Hey Sean, tell your coach to shut his mouth,’ because I was so pissed when I saw all these videos, how he does stupid things, how he talks stupid. I told him to shut his mouth.”

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Welch warned Dvalishvili of the consequences if he decides to step up to him during fight week.

“Initially, I thought it was because I said we’re going to target his nose in an interview, which isn’t a lie,” Welch said. “I mean, it’s not a lie, and I’ve never really said fighting words to those guys. But then Merab tweeted out and said, ‘Next time I see you, I’m going to take care of it’ or something. And it’s like, come on brother, I haven’t trained martial arts my whole life for a little 5 foot 4 guy to try to punk me out. I’ve trained my whole life, and I’m only 34 years old. I’m 6 foot, 195 pounds. It’s like, alright, alright, we’ll see what happens. But that’s besides the point. This is a huge fight that we’ve got the No. 1 contender vs. the champion of the world.

“That fight is going to happen, 100 percent. ‘Sugar Show’ vs. Merab, and we’re preparing and we’re more dialed in than we’ve ever been because Merab does pose a serious, serious threat. … It’s probably not smart for Merab to do that fight week. Maybe after the fight. You’ve got the biggest fight of your life and you’ve got the opportunity to get a world championship. So fight week stepping into my face is probably not smart. You’ve got a fight ahead of you that you’re going to get paid for. So taking on me is not very smart, but we’ll what happens. If they think our team is going to cower down to their team like (Henry) Cejudo’s team did, then they’re going to be wrong.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Cory Sandhagen rooting for Sean O’Malley at Noche UFC: ‘We’ll give the fans what they’ve been asking for’

Cory Sandhagen calls a potential UFC matchup vs. Sean O’Malley the most asked-for fight right now.

ABU DHABI – [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] admits he’ll spiritually be in the corner of the bantamweight champion at UFC 306.

Should he defeat Umar Nurmagomedov after Saturday’s UFC on ABC 7 in Abu Dhabi, Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) thinks he’ll align himself nicely for a crack at title gold.

Sandhagen isn’t particularly interested in a backup role, but plans to attend and root hard for Sean O’Malley to defeat Merab Dvalishvili at Noche UFC, the Sept. 14 pay-per-view at Sphere in Las Vegas. His motivation for partiality is self-benefit, of course.

“Yeah, I’m definitely rooting for O’Malley,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “That’s definitely the bigger fight. That’s a fight that people have been asking for forever. I think that me and him go into a cage and it’s just going to be fireworks. It’s going to be so technical and so skilled, super athletic. That’s what the fans want to see really, really bad. I’m going to get this win. O’Malley, get yourself a win, and then we’ll give the fans what they’ve been asking for, for years. I really think there’s no more exciting fight or no fight I feel like is being asked for more in the UFC than me and O’Malley. That’s what I hope happens.”

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O’Malley is currently a slight underdog across all major online sports books, which surprises Sandhagen. Sandhagen relates to O’Malley in that they both are often criticized for a facet of their game they haven’t really shown much.

“I think O’Malley is in a little bit of the same position as me,” Sandhagen said. “We haven’t seen O’Malley fight a ton of wrestlers. There are a lot of unknowns there. You haven’t seen me fight a ton of wrestlers, so you don’t really know how good my defensive wrestling is. I think he is in a little bit of the same boat. Usually, when that’s the case, people choose wrestling. That’s been chosen time and time again, that wrestling is usually the king of combat sports. I think that they’re likely counting him out for that, but we haven’t really seen him do much wrestling. So, who knows? He could be as good as Jordan Burroughs or Kyle Dake or Vito Araujo, but I guess you don’t really know.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 7.

‘He’ll kill you’: Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili jaw in first Noche UFC faceoff as security intervenes

Find someone who looks at you the way Alexa Grasso looks at an argument between UFC contenders.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] engaged in a heated first faceoff last week and the video has just surfaced.

In a promotional video shoot for their Noche UFC 306 showdown Sept. 14 at Sphere, the promotion’s bantamweight champion and challenger got into a heated discussion seemingly pertaining to O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch.

O’Malley and Dvalishvili disagreed on the origins of the mutual disdain involving Welch. As the two verbally traded barbs, UFC security stepped between them to prevent things from turning physical.

“If you have a problem with him, you can take it up with him,” O’Malley said. “He’ll fight you, if that’s what you want. … You want to die? That’s what you’re saying? He’ll kill you.”

Meanwhile, a delighted UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso was seen in the background, fully engaged in joyfully watching the disagreement.

While it’s unclear exactly what comments peeved Dvalishvili, it’s not the first instance of a bone he’s had to pick with Welch. After O’Malley finished Aljamain Sterling, Dvalishvili took exception with corner audio that indicated Welch could have been shouting fake instructions to Sterling as a trick. Welch denied doing it.

Dvalishvili has publicly said he wants to fight Welch as recently as May.

“I will smash O’Malley inside the cage and then smash his coach outside of the cage,” Dvalishvili wrote in an X post.

Welch responded with a quote post, “I’ve punted footballs bigger than you.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

UFC 306 ticket prices: Mexican Independence Day at Sphere could break promotion’s gate record

Get ready to pay for the most expensive tickets in UFC history if you want to see fights at Sphere.

Available UFC 306 tickets are flying off the virtual shelves as Monday’s presale rolls on – and fans are paying a hefty price just to get in the door.

A potential once-in-a-lifetime happening, the UFC is set to debut Sept. 17 at Sphere in Las Vegas for the second “Noche UFC” celebration of Mexican Independence Day.

The card features two title fights, as bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] collides with rival [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag], after women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] and former titleholder [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] fight in a trilogy bout in the co-main event.

While tickets are now scarce, according to Ticketmaster listings, people with knowledge of the situation recently informed MMA Junkie of set starting prices.

Initial UFC 306 tickets are in price categories of $5,007.50 (main level, center sections);  $5,007.50 (terrace center level); $4,007.50 (main level side sections, lower rows; terrace side sections); $3,507.50 (main level overhang with limited view of screen); $3,507.50 (terrace level corner; lower gallery center sections); $3,507.50 (lower gallery level side sections); and $3,507.50 (main level overhang, upper rows with limited view of screen).

The figures reflect the prices before dynamic pricing, platinum designations, taxes and fees. The figures do not represent second-party resales.

At the time of publication, tickets were still available, listed at $2,157.50 to $17,507, before fees.

Dynamic pricing is an option many organizations and artists use to fluctuate ticket prices based on demand. The method has become more prevalent over the past decade. The higher the demand and the less supply, the higher the prices are adjusted.

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The starting prices, when compared to other events, including April’s milestone UFC 300 and June’s milestone UFC 303, indicate the promotion very well could break its gate record, currently held by UFC 205.

UFC 205, which took place in November 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York, was headlined by Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor and produced a $17.7 million gate.

UFC 300 was the third-largest gate in promotion history at $16.5 million. UFC 303 placed right behind it, fourth all-time with $15.9 million.

While it’s unclear what the capacity for UFC 306 is, Sphere’s capacity is listed at approximately 18,600. Considering the cheapest ticket for UFC 306 is greater than the most expensive ticket for UFC 300, the promotion could rake in the biggest gate in its history during its Sphere debut.

The current UFC 306 lineup includes:

  • Champ Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili – for bantamweight title
  • Champ Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
  • Diego Lopes vs. Brian Ortega
  • Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber
  • Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez
  • Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
  • Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
  • Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza
  • Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Chairez
  • Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.

Sean O’Malley vows to make Merab Dvalishvili ‘look stupid’ at Noche UFC: ‘He’s decent – I’m great’

Sean O’Malley promises to knock Merab Dvalishvili “out cold” in what may be the only UFC event to ever happen at Sphere.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] is relishing the opportunity to headline arguably the most unique event in UFC history at Sphere in Las Vegas, and he anticipates a dazzling performance against Merab Dvalishvili.

After much anticipation and speculation, UFC CEO Dana White announced Friday that the main event of Noche UFC (also known as UFC 306) on Sept. 14 will see O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) put his bantamweight title on the line against streaking contender Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC).

White had previously revealed more than $17 million in costs have already been sunk into production for the event at the state-of-the-art Sphere venue, and has relentlessly promised it will be the “greatest live combat sports show” ever.

O’Malley sits at the top of the bill for the showcase, and he expects it to live up to all the hype.

“I got a call from the production team the other day – they said this sh*t’s going to be a f*cking movie,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I’m going to have to put in some actual work during this promotion because of the level that’s going into this. Absolutely insane. Honored to headline and main event, UFC Sphere.”

Alongside White’s announcement of the full Noche UFC card came a video package that featured O’Malley and Dvalishvili facing off. “Sugar” said it was a full-day filming process to get the promotional materials done, and during that time he exchanged many words with his next opponent.

O’Malley, 29, who will attempt to make his second title defense on the card, said he thinks in Dvalishvili’s “head a little bit” after their time together, and predicts he will knock the streaking contender “out cold.”

Dvalishvili, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, won’t be easy to stop, though. He’s riding a 10-fight winning streak inside the octagon and has beaten former champions Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo in consecutive fights.

It’s clear O’Malley isn’t intimidated, though, and said he intends to prove once again why he’s No. 1 in the world.

“I’m going to make Merab look stupid,” O’Malley said. “I’m going to make him look silly. I’m going to make him look like he doesn’t even belong in there with me. Too elite. Not good enough. He’s got good cardio. He’s got good wrestling. He’s got decent striking. But I’m great. He’s decent – I’m great.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.

Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3 to co-headline Noche UFC at Sphere

The trilogy fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko has finally been announced by the UFC.

The trilogy fight between UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] is finally happening.

Grasso vs. Shevchenko 3 will take place Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas as the co-main event of Noche UFC (also known as UFC 306), UFC CEO Dana White announced Friday on social media.

A Mexico native, Grasso will proudly represent her home country on a card that’s a tribute to Mexican Independence Day while Shevchenko hopes the third time will be the charm against the current champion.

The two fighters have fought twice before. The first meeting was at UFC 285 in March 2023 and served as the card’s co-main event. Grasso defeated Shevchenko with a fourth-round rear-naked choke. The victory shocked most of the world as it was one of the biggest oddsmaker upsets in history.

The second meeting took place six months later at the inaugural Noche UFC. The fight was closely-contested and went all 25 minutes. Though everyone had an opinion, the only ones that mattered were the three judges, who collectively scored the fight a split draw.

Since the second fight, the two flyweights coached against one another during “The Ultimate Fighter 32,” which is still currently airing.

With the addition, the Noche UFC lineup includes:

  • Champ Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili – for bantamweight title
  • Champ Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
  • Diego Lopes vs. Brian Ortega
  • Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber
  • Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez
  • Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont
  • Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres
  • Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza
  • Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Chairez
  • Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.