UFC 306: Recap of the Biggest Fighting Event Ever
UFC 306 was the debut of the Sphere for the company. The Sphere had been talked about by Dana White for a while now, and after tonight we all understand why he hyped it up the way he did. I don’t believe there will ever be a sports-viewing experience like the one we just saw last night. Not only was the Sphere beautiful, but it was also home to one of the most exciting main cards of 2024.
The first fight on the main card was Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Ode Osbourne. Rodriguez was a -160 favorite but early on it didn’t feel like he was. In the first minute of the fight, Rodriguez got knocked down by a hard hook and put in a triangle submission. The triangle was so tight that Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier thought the fight was over. He was able to power through and escape the triangle but the first round went to Osbourne. In the second round, it was an even fight until Rodriguez got caught in a guillotine choke but again Rodriguez was able to escape and take Osbournes back. Rodriguez proceeded to land strike after strike while working his way to full mount. From the full mount position Rodriguez made his way towards Osbournes back, and when he successfully did that he took complete control of the round. Heading into the final round it was anyone's fight. The third round was unlike the first two, this round had a lot less grappling and ground control. With one-and-a-half minutes left in the third round, Osbourne successfully took down Rodriguez. The takedown gave the viewers the impression that it would be what would decide the final round but Rodriguez flipped the takedown and started landing blow after blow in the ground and pound. The final decision was close with Daniel Cormier even saying, “To be honest I don’t know who won.” Rodriguez ended up winning by unanimous decision.
The next fight was Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics. This fight started more aggressively than the other ones. Both fighters instantly went to the middle of the cage and exchanged browns. There wasn’t a single takedown attempt in the first round, just beautiful combo exchanges. The first round went to Ribovics in my opinion, it looked like he landed more strikes/significant strikes. In round two, Ribovics found his groove. He caught Zellhuber with a lot of right hands but according to analysts, it was a close fight heading into the third. In the third round, Zellhuber knocked down Ribovics with a monster elbow. Ribovics was able to eat the hit and at the three-minute mark, he went on a barrage of his own. Ribovics caught Zellhuber with a shot that left Zellhuber wobbling for over a minute. The fact that Zellhuber didn’t go to sleep after the barrage is a miracle. This fight was electric but unfortunately, someone has to be the winner and the other the loser. Ribovics ended up winning via split decision.
The third fight of the night was Diego Lopes vs. Brian Ortega. Lopes came out swinging early. In the first minute of the fight, Lopes stunned Ortega. To be honest, I don’t know how Ortega managed to stay conscious. Lopes was the clear winner of the first round, the damage on Ortega's left eye would tell you that. Round two started slower than the first one but that wasn’t for long. Lopes knocked down Ortega again with a hard right hand. Going into round three, it was obvious that Ortega would need a submission or KO win to win this fight. In round three, Ortega pressed on the gas. He landed a couple of clean strikes and followed one of those combos up with a takedown attempt. Unfortunately, Ortega’s attempt was stuffed. With two minutes left, it was do or die for Ortega but his aggressiveness was his downfall. Lopes knocked him down again and won via unanimous decision.
The co-main event was a trilogy title fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko came out strong, securing a takedown early in the first round. It was clear that Shevchenko had takedowns at the top of her fighting strategy for this fight. While they were both on the floor Grasso attempted an arm triangle. She wasn’t able to get a tight enough grip and at the end of the round, it was fair to say Shevchenko was winning 1-0. One minute into the second round, Shevchenko secured another takedown. It was early but the fight was certainly playing out as well as you could hope for Shevchenko. Very similarly to the first round, Shevchenko was able to control the ground game. Grasso attempted another submission in the round but she just couldn’t get it tight enough. The third round started slower than probably any other fight on the card. Shevchenko was playing it safe given her two-round lead, and Grasso seemed nervous about making a mistake. Shevchenko had nine minutes of control time after three rounds, her wrestling/ground game was about as flawless as you could have it. Going into the fourth round, it was extremely obvious that Grasso needed a knockout or submission to retain her belt. In the fourth round, Grasso got Shevchenko in what seemed to be one of the tightest guillotines of the year. The guillotine was so tight I believe I heard Grasso say “You have to tap.” Somehow, Shevchenko was able to escape another tight submission. The scorecard was 3-1 in Shevchenko’s favor and Grasso needed a prayer if she was going to win now. The fifth round was just another display of Shevchenko’s dominance. It was clear that unless the Judges completely butchered the scorecards, Shevchenko was going to become the champion once again. The final ruling in this fight was Shevchenko as the winner via unanimous decision.
The final fight of the night was the highly anticipated title fight between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. The bad blood between these two ran deep and it was about as close to a pick 'em fight as you can have in the UFC. Merab is one of the best wrestlers/grapplers in the UFC and Sean is arguably the best pound-for-pound striker in the UFC. The first round looked like a feeling-out process for both fighters. There were a lot of feints and half-thrown punches. Dvalishvili was able to take down O’Malley three minutes into the round. Although he had no control time, every takedown for Dvalishvili was going to get him one step closer to championship gold. Dvalishvili’s two takedowns in round one gave him the edge of 1-0 in my opinion. Not the best start for O’Malley but there was plenty of time to make up for it. After a lot of feinting to start the second round, Dvalishvili secured a beautiful takedown after O’Malley missed a right hook. O’Malley looked overwhelmed by the grappling skills of Merab. After two rounds it was fair to say Merab was up 2-0.
The common theme in both the championship fights was the constant wrestling. Merab secured another takedown in the third round, and to be honest it wasn’t looking good for O’Malley. The third round was hard to judge. Dvalishvili had the takedown but O’Malley landed the better shots. Heading into the fourth round, I believed it was 2-1 Dvalishvili. This round started with O’Malley landing some beautiful shots, but he landed another takedown. Whenever O’Malley started to pick up steam Dvalishvili would secure a takedown and “chew clock” on the ground. In my opinion, Dvalishvili also won this round giving him a 3-1 lead. Similar to other fights, it was going to take an O’Malley knockout/submission for him to win. O’Malley had arguably his best round in the fifth but it was too late. Dvalishvili won the fight via unanimous decision. Overall this card was fun except for the co-main and main event. It will be interesting to see if O’Malley will get an instant rematch or if he will have to win a number-one contender fight first.
