Dana White has promised the greatest show in combat sports history this weekend as the UFC celebrates Mexican Independence Day with UFC Noche at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The entire UFC 306 card is filled with Mexican fighters and to compliment that we have two titles on the line.
Sean O’Malley will defend his Bantamweight title against Merab Dvashvili and, for the third time, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko will enter the octagon together as the co-main event.
We’ve put an emphasis in finding some value in the top three fights on the main card and our UFC 306 Tips & Preview can be found below.
The UFC’s cash cow, Sean O’Malley has not only lived up to his hype in regards to promotion, but he is now the Bantamweight king having won, and defended, his crown inside the octagon.
He not only looks the part, with his colourful hair and Lamborghinis, but he is an exciting fighter who possesses lethal striking.
Merab Dvashvili has been happy to play villain for quite some time now, calling out Sean O’Malley at every opportunity afforded to him and he finally gets his chance at the champion through an impressive winning streak.
The pathway to victory is seemingly obvious for Merab, get O’Malley to the canvas and control the fight from there but this is easier said than done.
There’s no doubting his wrestling abilities, but his submission game lacking and I’m struggling to see how he controls the fight long enough to get a decision win.
And there is O’Malley sniper-like striking.
I think he catches him on the way in at some stage after a patient start.
There was a period of time in which Valentina Shevchenko looked unbeatable in the Women’s Flyweight division which was evident in the fact she defended her title a record seven times.
She was simply too quick, possessed too many weapons and had a superior fight IQ to her opponents which made her a horrible match up for many women in the division.
Enter Mexican Alexa Grasso.
A submission win via a head crank in their first encounter and a majority draw decision win in the second thanks mainly to some excellent work on the ground with control time at pivotal points in the fight.
One of the main points to make with the success that Grasso has had against her champion opponent has been that she doesn’t seem overawed by the situation, something that many of Shevchenko’s opponents have fallen victim to.
This matchup was originally slated for UFC 303 in June, but Ortega was forced to withdraw due to illness the night before the fight was to take place.
This didn’t stop Lopes from taking a fight against Dan Ige, a fight in which he won via decision.
That was his fourth win in a row inside the octagon and there are few more exciting fighters in the Featherweight division.
Ortega has risen to the top and challenged to the title on two separate occasions, falling short firstly against Max Holloway and then against Aussie champ Alexander Volkanovski.
He has seemingly got his life back on track with personal issues and injury derailing his career in recent times and at his best, he is a dangerous opponent for anyone.
This is the fight that many are most looking forward to on the card.
Both men are very competent grapplers and I’m expecting that side of the fight to be nullified somewhat and expect a striking battle to ensue.