UFC 306 – Page 4 – Syndication Server

Valentina Shevchenko criticizes ESPN for ‘unfair’ coverage of Alexa Grasso leading up to UFC 306

New champ Valentina Shevchenko didn’t like the way ESPN portrayed the rematch with Alexa Grasso in the buildup to UFC 306.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] accuses ESPN of showing bias toward [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] in the buildup to UFC 306.

Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) regclaimed the flyweight title from Grasso (16-4-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) by out-grappling her in the UFC 306 co-main event Saturday at Sphere. Shevchenko was able to close out their trilogy with a unanimous decision after she was submitted in their first fight, followed by a split draw in their rematch – a fight she’s adamant she won.

Shevchenko was happy to beat Grasso in decisive fashion, but she believes she wasn’t getting enough credit for her performance in the rematch, specifically from ESPN.

“I feel ESPN was showing so much (favoritism toward Alexa Grasso),” Shevchenko told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 306 post-fight news conference. “Even in the second fight with Alexa, so every time showing the moment when she’s winning or she’s doing good combinations.

“And my combinations, they just ignored. But I won the fight, but they just ignored. All the people had this feeling that she won the fight, and it was a draw. I felt it was unfair a little bit, and now there is no way for them to show these clips. It’s going to do right and show the right clips now.”

Shevchenko is ready to move on from Grasso, shutting down a potential fourth fight. Manon Fiorot weighed in as the backup for their fight.

“I think it would be good to see somebody different,” Shevchenko said. “Right now, I don’t think it would be the appropriate fight.”

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

Joshua Van calls out Cody Durden after win over Edgar Chairez at UFC 306

Joshua Van got back in the win column just two months after his first UFC loss.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag] beat Edgar Chairez with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Van, who stepped up when Kevin Borjas pulled out and got back in the win column just two months after his first UFC loss.

Joshua Van def. Edgar Chairez

Sep 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Edgar Chairez of Mexico (red gloves) fights Joshua Van of the United States (blue gloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Result: Joshua Van def. Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Van (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), Chairez (11-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
Key stats: Van landed 183 total strikes in the fight and had three takedowns.

Van on the fight’s key moment

“That motherf*cker is tough, man. And the thing is, he’s got a long-ass arm. So even though I pulled back a little bit, his arm was still reaching me. It was a little new to me, fighting someone as long as him. But he was tough. That’s all I can say: He was a tough motherf*cker.

“… The second round, I hurt him. But Mexicans are tough. He won’t give up. Watching all his fights – I did my little homework this time around – he didn’t like the body shots. That’s why we tried to go down to the body.”

Van on the short notice fight

“I was at the bar taking a shot when I got the call for this. I thought I was going to be taking a break for two months or so. I was enjoying my best life. The call came, two weeks’ notice, and we took the fight. This week was a good experience for me. I loved every single moment.”

Van on what he wants next

“I want to fight that boy Cody Durden. I want to fight that boy. If not, I was from Myanmar, but I was raised by this Mexican and we hate lazy people. I don’t like that ‘Lazyboy,’ (Ronaldo Rodriguez). So we can run it.”

To hear more from Van, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

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

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Daniel Cormier: ‘The road back will be difficult’ for Sean O’Malley after UFC 306 title loss

Daniel Cormier thinks Sean O’Malley may struggle to regain his status as UFC champion.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] may struggle to regain his status as UFC champion.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was taken down six times and controlled for 10 minutes en route to a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 306 title-fight headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Cormier sees the likes of Dvalishvili being a bad matchup for O’Malley unless he makes serious strides in his grappling.

“The road back will be difficult, you know,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “It’s hard to get yourself back to that level once you’ve been there and you recognize the stardom that comes with becoming the champion. He never gave up on himself. He should be proud about that.

“But he was in there with a guy that really will be a matchup problem for him every time that they fight. He’s just got to get better with the wrestling, better at the defending takedowns and he’s got to just really react a little earlier. I think his reactions were a little slow. That’s why Merab was able to knock him off of his feet.”

O’Malley’s best moment came in Round 5, when he poked Dvalishvili in the ribs with a teep kick that had him backpedalling. It was too little too late for O’Malley, but Cormier commends him for fighting until the end.

“If you’re a Sean O’Malley fan, you should be proud that your guy didn’t give up on himself, and he really did give himself a chance in Round 5,” Cormier said. “If you’re the coaches, you’re proud of your athlete because you told him in Round 5 that he needed to go and try to get a finish, and that’s exactly what he tried to do.”

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Sean O’Malley called out by Cory Sandhagen, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan after UFC 306 title loss

Sean O’Malley already has a slew of top bantamweight contenders wanting a piece of him after UFC 306.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] already has a slew of top bantamweight contenders wanting a piece of him after UFC 306.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his 135-pound title to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s Noche UFC main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Following his title loss, O’Malley was immediately mocked by [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who previously said he’d stick around at bantamweight to fight O’Malley.

“Hey O’Methyl…You wanted to be the next Conor McGregor-well now you are. Neither of you bums can defend a takedown. I’m teaching ‘Wrestling for Cokeheads’ at 8 AM. See you in the morning. @SugaSeanMMA.”

https://twitter.com/HenryCejudo/status/1835199622303666473

Also taking a shot at O’Malley is former champion [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who lost a controversial decision to “The Suga Show” in October 2022.

“I never considered Sean a real champion because he was gifted decision against me in Abu Dhabi. Rematch season is open, so see you soon .”

https://twitter.com/PetrYanUFC/status/1835214318587228301

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag]’s approach was a more respectful one, urging O’Malley to give the fans a striker’s delight matchup. Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is coming off a main event loss to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC on ABC 7 in August.

“Watching Merab win the title ⏩️ realizing you get Sandman v Suga because of it
.
Congrats, Merab. You earned it, man. O’Malley, time to give the people what they want. I don’t promise to not kiss you.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_9UdJSJ2Ul/?img_index=1

O’Malley seemed to take his loss in stride, posting a video of him working on his takedown defense on his Instagram. O’Malley was taken down six times by Dvalishvili and controlled for 10 minutes.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_7dwSGxkXz/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=012da435-4b90-4b52-9371-e83d30a962af

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

Sean O’Malley comes to terms with UFC 306 loss to Merab Dvalishvili: ‘I overpromised, underdelivered’

Sean O’Malley is forced to come to terms with losing the bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] entered 2024 believing he could attain Conor McGregor’s level of stardom. After UFC 306, that possibility has all but faded away.

O’Malley lost the bantamweight championship to Merab Dvalishvili this past Saturday in the UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas. Over the course of 25 minutes, Dvalishvili mostly imposed his will as he repeatedly took down and smothered O’Malley, en route to a unanimous decision win.

While O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) declined to speak with reporters on fight night, he reacted to the loss Monday during an episode of his “TimboSugarShow” podcast with Tim Welch and said he learned an important lesson that hit him immediately afterward.

“I think it’s good to be confident in your skills, but I overpromised, underdelivered,” O’Malley said. “That was the first thing that went through my head. Like, f*ck.”

To many observers, O’Malley appeared hesitant throughout the fight. He said his performance had nothing to do with anything other than Dvalishvili being better on the night.

“Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses,” O’Malley said. “My mom, she’s like, ‘You just weren’t the same. Like, what was wrong?’ Nothing, I just got beat. Everyone keeps asking me like, ‘Something seemed off, something seemed different, (you were) flat-footed.’ There was zero excuses, nothing. …

“I felt like I got out-strengthed. I knew what to do in certain positions. He was just stronger. I felt out-strengthed. I didn’t feel too out-skilled, out-speed. Cardio was good.”

The loss was a tough way to end the year for O’Malley, whose reign as 135-pound champion came to an end after one just title defense. With so much attention on UFC 306 given the unique nature of the event at Sphere, O’Malley had a golden opportunity to level up as a bona fide UFC star.

Instead, it’s back to the drawing board.

“I probably won’t fight for nine months, 10 months, maybe a year,” O’Malley said. “It’s gonna be a while. People are gonna have to watch UFC without the ‘Sugar Show’ for a little bit.”\

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Video: Did UFC 306 at Sphere live up to Dana White’s hype?

With Dana White and the UFC’s “love letter to the Mexican people” in the books, “Spinning Back Clique” discusses if the show delivered.

UFC 306 went down this Saturday, and it was the most expensive event the promotion has ever put on given the production demands of the Sphere in Las Vegas. It was an ambitious move by the UFC, and [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] hyped it up to be the greatest sporting event ever.

UFC 306 saw two champions lose their titles as [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexa Grasso [/autotag]were dominated by [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] in their respective bouts.

Now that the historic event is in the books, did UFC 306 deliver on what White promised? Can UFC 306 be considered a success? And what comes next for the big winners and losers?

MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and host Gorgeous George discuss the UFC’s debut at Sphere, along with the main results from the card.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/live/3EgC1RE0PgU

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Merab Dvalishvili, Tim Welch explain bizarre (and heated) back-and-forth to start UFC 306 title fight

While Tim Welch tried to downplay his actions, Merab Dvalishvili put Sean O’Malley’s head coach on blast for “zero sportsmanship.”

With UFC 306 complete, Tim Welch admits he knew [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] “was gonna be a problem,” which might explain his motivation for doing what he did at the start of Saturday night’s main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

The puzzling moment occurred just 10 seconds into Dvalishvili’s title fight with bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] as the challenger pointed and started yelling in the direction of O’Malley’s corner, prompting referee Herb Dean to call time and admonish Dvalishvili. As it unfolded, the UFC 306 commentary team of Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik was baffled.

In-cage audio during the broadcast shed some light on the bizarre moment, with Dean telling Dvalishvili, “Merab, don’t start this. Do not talk to him. That’s my job.” Dean also addressed Welch after restarting the fight. “Do your job, I’ll do mine,” he told O’Malley’s head coach.

So what happened and what was said? Welch attempted to explain Monday and downplayed the situation in a video on his YouTube channel.

“First round (he) comes out, and what I said to Merab was, ‘Merab, you need to be patient.’ And that’s when he freaked out,” Welch said. “He started bucking himself around. I was like, ‘Holy cow, I just said Merab, be patient.’ He must’ve been anticipating that a little bit, but I really wasn’t going out of my way to [makes noises] yell. But I did say that. I guess there is an excessive coaching (rule), but I told Herb Dean some of our callouts have Merab’s name in it, and he said, ‘Nope, nope, nope.’ So, that ended.”

In explaining the situation from his point of view, Dvalishvili admitted video of Welch calling out good friend Aljamain Sterling’s name at UFC 292 was on his mind.

“Everyone is asking what happened at start of fight – I was trying to stay professional and focus on the fight only, not wanting to change the energy of the fight,” Dvalishvili wrote on X. “I made no eye contact with O’Malleys team. BUT when the fight started I hear his team calling out to me – Merab.. trying to coach , provoke and distract me. I yelled back at them cut it out and coach your own guy. I remembered they pulled the same crap with Aljo. Not professional .. this is the way they want their Fighter to win. It’s a shame how disrespectful they are and that they have zero sportsmanship!”

Welch didn’t expect Dvalishvili’s reaction to be as animated as it was.

“I was surprised at how much he freaked out,” Welch said. “He let his emotions freaking get to him in there, but it didn’t do anything. Didn’t matter one bit. Like I said, we knew how good that guy was.”

Welch is right in that his early-fight taunting had no effect on Dvalishvili, who went on to dominate O’Malley for 25 minutes and claim the bantamweight title by unanimous decision.

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Javier Mendez finds it ‘weird’ that Merab Dvalishvili refuses to acknowledge Umar Nurmagomedov as No. 1 contender

Javier Mendez is confused why Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to fight Umar Nurmagomedov.

[autotag]Javier Mendez[/autotag] is confused why [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] doesn’t want to fight [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag].

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) dethroned Sean O’Malley with a dominant decision win to claim the bantamweight title in Saturday’s UFC 306 headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. In the post-fight news conference, Dvalishvili insisted that Deiveson Figueiredo is a more worthy challenger than Nurmagomedov.

Mendez doesn’t want to accuse Dvalishvili of being scared of Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), but says he should fight whoever the UFC declares as No. 1 contender.

“I don’t know what the hell to think because how can you say the other person is more deserving when the ranking put Umar as No. 2?” Mendez told Submission Radio. “And they also promised Umar the fight or whoever the winner was going to be between Sandhagen and Umar that they would get the next title shot. The UFC is coming through with their with their promise and that’s what they’re trying to put together.

“Why Merab is trying to maybe avoid him – I don’t know if he is or isn’t. I really don’t know. It’s weird. My fighters, what I tell them is, when you’re the champion, you just get ready to fight whoever they put in front of you, you fight. If you’re not a real champion, then fine – pick who you want to pick. But if you’re the real champion, you fight. The only thing you should be able to choose is the dates.”

Mendez admits he initially hoped Nurmagomedov would have fought bigger star O’Malley for the title. The American Kickboxing Academy head coach also thinks Nurmagomedov would have done more damage on the ground to O’Malley than Dvalishvili did.

“It would have played out different,” Mendez said. “It wouldn’t have been the same. Sure, on the ground, it would have been bad for O’Malley, but he might have got finished on the ground with Umar, had Umar been able to take him to the ground. More than likely, I think, based on what I saw, if had it been Umar on the ground on him like that, Umar is more of a submission specialist than Merab is.”

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UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili insists Deiveson Figueiredo more worthy challenger than Umar Nurmagomedov

Merab Dvalishvili’s stance on Umar Nurmagomedov remains the same.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag]’s stance on [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] remains the same.

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) claimed the bantamweight title with a dominant decision over Sean O’Malley in Saturday’s UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Nurmagomedov was in attendance for the fight, and was waiting for Dvalishvili to call his name in his post-fight octagon interview, but to no avail. Dvalishvili was later asked who he’d like to face next and he doubled down on wanting [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (24-3-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC).

“Whoever they want, I will fight next, but I want to talk to Dana (White) more close – I want to become his friend,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference Saturday. “I want to fight the top of the top, you know.

“I think Figueiredo would be my fifth champion on my list. He is more dangerous, knockout power, good jiu-jitsu, makes people sleep. Coming from three straight wins, top guys, that’s why this fight excites me, makes me motivated, makes me work hard.”

As for Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), Dvalishvili suggested he fight Petr Yan for a No. 1 contender spot, as he thinks one win over a top-ranked contender isn’t enough.

“Umar is OK, but I’m telling you guys, from the top 15 he’s only won one fight and that was Cory Sandhagen. We all saw what Aljamain Sterling did against Cory Sandhagen, made him sleep in first round. I respect Cory Sandhagen, but yeah.”

Nurmagomedov reacted to Dvalishvili’s win on “X.”

“I expected more from Sean, Merab did his job well. I hope he won’t avoid the real challenger. In any case, I’m ready.”

https://twitter.com/UNmgdv/status/1835206090264547758?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1835206090264547758%7Ctwgr%5Ea1b90a39b44ecdabe8f8eb1f008f1315f7a4c756%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bjpenn.com%2Fmma-news%2Fumar-nurmagomedov%2Fumar-nurmagomedov-reacts-after-merab-dvalishvili-dethrones-sean-omalley-at-ufc-306-i-hope-he-wont-avoid-the-real-challenger%2F

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Esteban Ribovics too busy in moment to realize UFC 306 slugfest with Zellhuber was instant classic

Esteban Ribovics picked up $50,000 for Fight of the Night in a bout that will be talked about as a potential Fight of the Year.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Esteban Ribovics[/autotag] beat Daniel Zellhuber with a split decision Saturday on the main card at UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Ribovics, who picked up $50,000 for Fight of the Night in a bout that will be talked about as a potential Fight of the Year three months from now.

Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber

Sep 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Daniel Zellhuber of Mexico (red gloves) fights Esteban Ribovics of Argentina (blue gloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Result: Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Updated records: Ribovics (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Zellhuber (15-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC)
Key stats: Ribovics and Zellhuber threw a combined 653 punches in a fight that was contested virtually entirely at striking range.

Ribovics on the fight’s key moment

“I’m very proud. All the hard work paid off. It was all worth it. Physically, I feel like sh*t. I knew how hard he was. I knew that he could take punches, and I also knew he was very good dodging the punches, going backwards. That’s why I didn’t rush forward. But I can also take a punch, as you guys saw. It was a tough fight and it was exactly as I as I envisioned.”

Ribovics on the potential to fight Zellhuber again

“Honestly, all I knew was that I thought that the second round could go either way. I knew I had to go out full on in the third round and that’s what I did. That elbow knocked me down, but I managed to get up and all I all I could think was, ‘Keep connecting hands. Keep landing. I’ve got to keep punching. Keep going forward.’

“It would be fantastic and an honor to share the octagon with him again. Maybe we can fight again in the future when we’re both stronger. I love this kind of fight where I take punches and I give punches. It would be a good (rematch) for the future.”

Ribovics on what he wants next

“I feel pretty bad right now, so I’ve got to make sure nothing’s broken or anything like that. So hopefully before the end of the year, early next year – but as I said, I don’t feel great right now. I’ve got to go back, maybe see how I feel in a month’s time. I do want to be within the top 15 rankings by the end of next year.”

To hear more from Ribovics, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

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

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