UFC 306: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Daniel Cornmeat
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
Introduction
UFC 306: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley — branded Noche UFC — took place on Saturday, September 14, 2024 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the first UFC event held at the Sphere, the world's largest spherical entertainment venue. The card was timed to coincide with Mexican Independence Day weekend and was themed around Mexican and Latin heritage. The card produced an estimated 1,000,000 pay-per-view buys — the highest UFC number since UFC 300 five months earlier.
Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O'Malley via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in a dominant five-round performance, becoming the UFC bantamweight champion. The Georgian wrestling machine used takedowns and clinch control to neutralise O'Malley's striking range across all five rounds. Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the women's flyweight title by TKO of Alexa Grasso at 4:27 of round four in the co-main.
The Sphere's visual production — its 160,000 square-foot interior LED canvas displaying full-resolution Mexican-themed imagery and octagon sequences — made UFC 306 the most visually spectacular combat sports event in history. The production budget was reported as the highest in UFC history, with the Sphere's technology creating an immersive experience unlike any prior UFC broadcast.
Contents
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024
📍 Venue: The Sphere, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (first UFC event at this venue)
👥 Attendance: 18,000 (full Sphere capacity)
💰 Gate: $16.8 million (highest UFC gate since UFC 300)
📺 PPV Buys: ~1,000,000 (highest since UFC 300)
📡 Broadcast: Pay-per-view (ESPN+ in USA) — branded ‘Noche UFC’ (Mexican Independence Night)
🏆 Main Event: Sean O'Malley (c) vs. Merab Dvalishvili — UFC Bantamweight Championship (135 lbs)
✅ Result: Dvalishvili def. O'Malley via Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
🥇 Co-Main: Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso (c) via TKO (punches) — R4, 4:27 — Women's Flyweight Title
The Build-Up
The Sphere — an MSG Sphere Entertainment venue that opened in Las Vegas in September 2023 — hosted its first UFC event 12 months after opening. The 366-foot-high spherical arena seats 18,000 and features the world's largest and highest-resolution LED screen — a 160,000 square-foot interior surface. The Noche UFC framing (Mexican Independence Day weekend) and the two title fights drove the $16.8 million gate.
Sean O'Malley had defended once (Vera 2 at UFC 299). Merab Dvalishvili had earned the title shot via his 30-27 shutout of Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. O'Malley was a -175 favourite; Dvalishvili was +140.
The co-main was the Grasso-Shevchenko trilogy — the most-discussed women's flyweight series of the modern era. The Mexican heritage of Alexa Grasso fitted the Noche UFC theme; Shevchenko was coming to take back the title she had held for six consecutive defenses before Grasso's upset at UFC 285.
Main Event: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili
Dvalishvili dismantled O'Malley's game from round one. His takedown volume — 11 takedowns across five rounds — denied O'Malley the space to establish his range-based striking. Every time O'Malley attempted to use his jab and his counter right, Dvalishvili shot for a takedown. Every round was Dvalishvili's on wrestling control and top position time.
Final scorecards: 49-46, 49-46, 49-46. Merab Dvalishvili was the UFC bantamweight champion. The Georgian wrestler had achieved what most observers believed impossible — making O'Malley's striking look irrelevant across five championship rounds. He has defended the title against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January 2025 (UD win).
Co-Main Event: Shevchenko vs. Grasso 3
Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the flyweight title in four rounds. The first three were competitive — Grasso's combination striking and her forward pressure won rounds two and three, while Shevchenko's clinch work and her precision striking won rounds one and four.
Round four ended it. Shevchenko landed a clean right hand at 3:45 that wobbled Grasso against the cage. She pressed with sustained combination striking; Grasso's defensive coverage broke down at 4:20. Shevchenko landed the finishing combination; referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight at 4:27. Valentina Shevchenko was the UFC women's flyweight champion for the second time. The trilogy series: Grasso 1-2 (UFC 285 + draw) vs. Shevchenko 1 (UFC 306). The Sphere crowd — which had been strongly pro-Grasso on Mexican Independence Night — gave Shevchenko a sustained ovation regardless.
Full Results
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O'Malley (c) — Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) — Bantamweight Title
Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso (c) — TKO (punches) — R4, 4:27 — Women's Flyweight Title
Diego Lopes def. Brian Ortega — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Featherweight
Ronaldo Rodriguez def. Aori Qileng — KO (punches) — R1 — Bantamweight
Raul Rosas Jr. def. Ricky Turcios — Submission (rear-naked choke) — R2 — Bantamweight
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Kayla Harrison def. Ketlen Vieira — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Women's Bantamweight
Manuel Torres def. Ignacio Bahamondes — TKO (punches) — R1, 2:58 — Lightweight
Irene Aldana def. Norma Dumont — Unanimous Decision (30-27 ×3) — Women's Bantamweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Merab Dvalishvili — $50,000 for the dominant unanimous-decision win over Sean O'Malley to win the bantamweight title.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Valentina Shevchenko — $50,000 for the fourth-round TKO of Alexa Grasso to reclaim the flyweight title.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Manuel Torres — $50,000 for the first-round TKO of Ignacio Bahamondes.
Records & Milestones
• First UFC event at the Sphere — the most visually spectacular UFC broadcast in promotion history.
• 1 million estimated PPV buys — the first non-UFC 300 event to crack seven figures since Khabib-McGregor in 2018.
• Shevchenko-Grasso trilogy final ledger: Grasso 1 (UFC 285 submission upset), Draw (Noche UFC 2023), Shevchenko 1 (UFC 306 TKO).
• Dvalishvili's 11 takedowns in a championship fight — one of the highest volumes in UFC bantamweight title history.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 306 is remembered as the night two title changes happened at the most spectacular venue in UFC history. The Sphere's production — the custom-designed visuals, the 18,000-seat immersive experience — was as widely discussed as the fights themselves. No UFC broadcast has been praised more for its visual production than UFC 306.
For Merab Dvalishvili, the title win launched a bantamweight reign he has defended against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January 2025 (UD). He has remained the UFC bantamweight champion into mid-2025. For Valentina Shevchenko, the UFC 306 TKO win completed the trilogy comeback and re-established her as the dominant flyweight of the modern era. She has remained the UFC women's flyweight champion into mid-2025.
FAQ
What is the Sphere?
The Sphere (MSG Sphere at The Venetian) is a 366-foot spherical entertainment venue that opened in Las Vegas in September 2023. It seats 18,000 and features the world's largest high-resolution LED display — a 160,000 square-foot interior screen that wraps the entire interior surface. The venue was built for immersive entertainment experiences; its first major residency was U2's 'UV Achtung Baby' concert series. UFC 306 was the first combat sports event held there.
How did Dvalishvili dismantle O'Malley?
Eleven takedowns across five rounds. Every time O'Malley attempted to establish his jab or set up his counter right, Dvalishvili shot for a takedown. O'Malley's takedown defense — rated highly against other styles — was overwhelmed by Dvalishvili's volume and his ability to chain takedown attempts from scrambles. Once Dvalishvili had top position, O'Malley's striking became irrelevant. The game plan was total and the execution was the most dominant wrestling performance in bantamweight title history.
How does UFC 306 compare to UFC 305?
UFC 306 drew approximately 1,000,000 PPV buys versus UFC 305 (550,000) four weeks earlier — a near-doubling driven by the Sphere venue, the Noche UFC branding, and the O'Malley star power. The $16.8 million gate was the highest since UFC 300's $17.4 million five months earlier.
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