Merab Dvalishvili is the UFC’s new bantamweight champion, having savagely wrested the title from Sean O’Malley to close UFC 306, the first sports event held at the Las Vegas Sphere.
Dvalishvili devastated O’Malley by unanimous decision in the five-round main event on Saturday night, basically mauling his opponent while transforming his five-inch-shorter stature into an advantage by letting it help him avoid O’Malley’s trademark knockout punch.
O’Malley successfully defended his belt against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March. But “The Machine,” riding a 10-fight winning streak, proved too much, and now its an 11-fight streak.
Dvalishvili had been a -120 favorite to win.
Valentina to Victory
Earlier in the evening, equivalent excitement was generated when former champion Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed her women’s flyweight title from Alexa Grasso, who snatched it from her last March.
Shevchenko, widely regarded as one of the best female fighters in MMA history, landed a career-best eight takedowns.
After a controversial split draw last September, the UFC decided to give Shevchenko one more shot and she made it count. The decision was unanimous.
The Sphere did its Sphere thing, enveloping the fighters in dazzling high-tech megapixels during the 10-bout event, which was branded as Riyadh Season Noche UFC for Mexican Independence Day.
But, other than enhancing the fighters’ Octagon entrances, the video — which UFC CEO Dana White was forced to spend $20 million producing (just for this one event!) — distracted from the spectacles emanating from the mat.
Indeed, White himself has stated that the UFC will never to return to the famous Vegas orb.
Also at UFC 306, White announced that UFC 309 would feature Jon Jones v. Stipe Miocic, Michael Chandler v. Charles Oliveira, and Bo Nickal v. Paul Craig at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16.
No $20 million videos will be required for that.
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