Pre-fight Discussion UFC 306 Riyadh Season Noche UFC: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili -The Sphere Card - Prelims 7:30 pm et ESPN+ Main 10 pm et Main PPV

Planning to watch

  • All of it

    Votes: 29 65.9%

  • Most of it

    Votes: 3 6.8%

  • Some of it

    Votes: 12 27.3%
  • Total voters
    44
Jose Beehive said:
Who folks reckon wins in Aldana vs Dumont? Feels really pick'em to me.

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I think it's a war and Aldana wins it
 
Report: UFC 306 to Set Promotion Records for Sponsorships, Sponsorship Revenue
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TRISTEN CRITCHFIELD SEP 11, 2024 COMMENTS

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event at the Sphere is proving to be quite lucrative for the Las Vegas-based promotion.

According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, UFC 306 will have more sponsorships and sponsorship revenue than any previous event. All told, there will be 34 sponsors for the card, which is the first sporting event to be held at the Sphere. This includes newcomers such as Wingstop, Dude Wipes, apparel company True Classic, investment app Autopilot, Finnish mobile game developer Supercell and Sony Pictures.

To put it into perspective, sponsorship revenue for UFC 306 will more than double the previous record set at UFC 300 in April, per the report.

UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“We’ve been able to land some new categories because of the Sphere," said Grant Norris-Jones, UFC's EVP and head of global partnerships. "These are significant, largely seven-figure spends to be part of this event, which was more attractive because of the Sphere. One of them we’d been talking to since before the pandemic. The Sphere just made people more aware of the event, and in a different way.”

In another interesting note, Bud Light holds presenting sponsor status, and that includes UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier “guest bartending” for Anheuser-Busch InBev at the Venetian, which is located nearby on the Las Vegas strip.

UFC 306 is also the organization’s first event with a title sponsor, as it has been branded Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306. According to Norris-Jones, the promotion will be open to more title sponsors in the future under the right circumstances.

"It’s the first time a brand has come before the letters UFC, but it’s an asset with a lot of value,” he said. “They set a strong market rate for a title, so we’ll look at that now for any partner willing to step up."

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Report: UFC 306 to Set Promotion Records for Sponsorships, Sponsorship Revenue

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s event at the Sphere is proving to be quite lucrative for the Las Vegas-based promotion.
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Dana White Reveals 'Easter Eggs' Surprise for UFC 306
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SAYAN NAG SEP 11, 2024 COMMENTS

UFC 306 keeps getting more and more interesting.

It is well known that the Noche UFC Riyadh Season card, which goes down at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, will be the promotion’s first and only venture at the venue. The promotion has already made known that there will be films playing on the entire media plane with the fights as chapters of the films.

Dana White recently revealed another surprise for viewers within those films. The UFC head honcho announced a $25,000 reward for anyone who can spot all the “Easter eggs” that will be there in the films. White also confirmed that the Easter eggs will be related to the event, which is a tribute to Mexico’s contribution to combat sports.

UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“There are also going to be Easter eggs in each one of these films,” White said during the post-fight press conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday night. “We’re working it out with legal right now, but what I want to do, if somebody can find all the Easter eggs, I’ll give you $25,000… They are related to the show.”

White was first enchanted with the Sphere when he attended a U2 concert there with Tom Brady in October 2023. The 55-year-old has since gone to great lengths to put together the first sporting event at the venue, partnering with Saudi Arabia in the process. White revealed that one of the first and biggest challenges the promotion faced in planning the card was the lighting. Unlike any other UFC event, the Sphere’s dome doesn’t support a structure above the Octagon which usually holds the lights, cameras and microphones.

“There’s no lighting grid,” White said. “So this will be the first event in the history of the company, probably in the history of combat sports I would imagine, where there isn’t a lighting grid hanging over the Octagon. So you have lights, cameras, microphones, different audio, all in that trussing up there. And that’s all gone. That was the big first challenge.”

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Dana White Reveals 'Easter Eggs' Surprise for UFC 306

UFC 306 keeps getting more and more interesting.
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@HI SCOTT NEWMAN - I went to the Cat Cafe yesterday! A friend of mine was able to get us reservations. It was awesome. There were maybe 20 cats just living their best lives, playing, lounging, being silly. They all come from the local animal shelter. All up for adoption. Its a miracle I didn't come home with any because there were a couple that really took to me. I didn't tell my cats where I was going when I left, but they sure had some questions for me when I got home.

She was checking out my iced hazelnut coffee

xgmHRQ4.jpg


His name is Gollum

B8Vz2el.jpg


Its a paradise for cats.

mZsGGPI.jpg
 
Jackonfire said:
@HI SCOTT NEWMAN - I went to the Cat Cafe yesterday! A friend of mine was able to get us reservations. It was awesome. There were maybe 20 cats just living their best lives, playing, lounging, being silly. They all come from the local animal shelter. All up for adoption. Its a miracle I didn't come home with any because there were a couple that really took to me. I didn't tell my cats where I was going when I left, but they sure had some questions for me when I got home.

She was checking out my iced hazelnut coffee

xgmHRQ4.jpg


His name is Gollum

B8Vz2el.jpg


Its a paradise for cats.

mZsGGPI.jpg
Click to expand...
OMG that cafe is amazing!!! I'd love to visit that place, wow. That would be the best cafe ever. Your post has warmed my heart and made my day. Love it

I've never been to a cafe like that, only the usual Starbucks or Coffehouse for me with the usual humans staring at their phones, you could literally do anything and no one would even notice because everyone staring at their phone screen haha. I wish I could be in that cat cafe.

That cat has beautiful green eyes, what an amazing place and a great idea. That place would be great to have a drink and relax because you know the energy is gonna be relaxed and so chill because of the cats.

Thank you for sharing and you made my day, I love to see stuff like this, instantly makes me feel good. :D :D :D haha yeah when your got home your cats would have been suspicious, they can read your energy, cats are the best at reading people, they would know you kinda been cheating but not fully cheating haha :D . Thanks brother Jack, much love, that made my day I swear.
 

Brian Ortega: 'Someone’s Gonna Get Finished' in UFC 306 Bout Against Diego Lopes​

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SAYAN NAG SEP 11, 2024 COMMENTS

Brian Ortega doesn’t think his fight against Diego Lopes will go the distance.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Dan Ige replaced Lopes on four hours’ notice at a catchweight of 165 pounds, dropping an entertaining unanimous decision. Ortega has since expressed his admiration for both Ige and Lopes for agreeing to fight on four hours’ notice.

Ortega’s booking against Lopes has been remade for UFC 306, which goes down at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday. Ortega notes that they are both evenly matched on the ground as well as on the feet to an extent that he is almost fighting a slightly different version of himself.

UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

“You have someone who refuses to lose [on the ground] and refuses to lose in the stand up,” Ortega told Submission Radio. “So when I say that, I bet you have no idea who I’m talking about. That’s why this is a exciting fight. You get to fight almost like a version of yourself. Tad bit different styles, same mentality.”

Ortega is also confident that someone will get finished in the fight. Boasting seven finishes in his eight UFC wins, Ortega knows someone is going out on their shield, and he doesn’t plan on doing so.

“Someone is gonna get finished. Guaranteed,” Ortega said. “You know me, you’ve seen me. I either put you on your shield or you put me on mine. I’m not going out on my shield.”

Ortega is coming off a submission win over Yair Rodriguez that saw him rebound from a two-fight slump in his return to action after a two-year hiatus this past February. Meanwhile, Lopes has mounted a four-fight winning streak — with three first round finishes — after coming up on the short side of a decision in his “Fight of the Night” UFC debut against Movsar Evloev.

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Pre-fight Discussion UFC 306 Riyadh Season Noche UFC: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili -The Sphere Card - Prelims 7:30 pm et ESPN+ Main 10 pm et Main PPV

Alrighty it's The Sphere Card UFC 306. Let's have a blast and make this one of the funniest threads of the year. Some particulars. Officially entitled UFC 306 – Riyadh Season Noche UFC: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvil or another variation, is upon us Saturday. This card features two title fights. The...
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Sean O’Malley Believes He’s 'Close' to Being UFC’s Biggest Star​

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TRISTEN CRITCHFIELD SEP 11, 2024 1 COMMENT

Sean O'Malley has been earmarked for stardom ever since the “Sugar Show” arrived on Dana White's Contender Series in 2017.

The question is, how high can he climb? According to the reigning UFCbantamweight champion, he’s already near the top of the mountain. During UFC 306media day on Wednesday, O’Malley acknowledged that Conor McGregor remains the promotion’s biggest draw. However, the Irishman’s lack of activity and success has made him a more attainable target in recent years.

"I think I'm close [to catching McGregor]," O'Malley said. "I think Conor still has one more big fight in him, but the big question mark is if he can come back and beat Michael Chandler. I think Conor has one more huge fight. But if he goes out and loses his next fight, that's like six in a row or something? [His star power] has to die down eventually. Maybe not. But that's a big testament to how big of a star he is. If he loses, I'm there. I'm the guy. I’m the No. 1.”

UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

O’Malley has fought five times since McGregor broke his leg in a loss against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. McGregor was supposed to return to action against Chandler at UFC 303 in June, but a broken toe delayed his comeback yet again. That, O’Malley says, is a big difference between him and the former two-division champion.

“I bring fights,” O’Malley said. “I fight – often. I think that’s what it is right now. Conor was good on the mic. The accent, the words that he chose, he was very good on the mic. Performances, he had a couple good performances. But I’m just consistent right now. I’m fighting a lot. That’s what I bring.”

O’Malley will headline the promotion’s highly anticipated pay-per-view offering opposite Merab Dvalishvili at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Due to the unique nature of the venue, the card has drawn plenty of interest heading into the event. If O’Malley delivers against Dvalishvili on Saturday, that should open the door to a wide range of possibilities for his next fight. That includes the likes of Umar Nurmagomedov, Deiveson Figueiredo and Ilia Topuria, but O’Malley isn’t commiting to anything just yet with an opponent in front of him.

“There’s options. Right now it’s pointless,” he said. “I’ve got to get out there and take care of Merab. We’ve got options after.”

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Sean O’Malley Believes He’s 'Close' to Being UFC’s Biggest Star

Sean O'Malley has been earmarked for stardom ever since the “Sugar Show” arrived on Dana White's Contender Series in 2017.
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This might be the first big UFC event in years that I just don’t give any shits about.

I tried to hype myself up for this card and ended up looking for other things to do on my Saturday off instead.
 

Preview: UFC 306 ‘O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili’​

O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili​

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TOM FEELY SEP 12, 2024 COMMENTS

UFC 306 on Saturday provides plenty of intrigue, and for once, that does not entirely have to do with the proceedings inside the cage. The Ultimate Fighting Championship finally plans to get out of the box with its production by running the Sphere in Las Vegas, and it looks to be an ambitious one-off project due to the work needed to pull it off and the excessive costs that have made headlines ahead of the show. That alone provides reason to tune in, but the top few fights sell themselves to an extent, particularly the main event. Sean O’Malley seemingly arrived as not just a champion but an elite fighter with a complete performance in his first title defense, but Merab Dvalishvili is the first of what figures to be many tough challengers for the bantamweight belt. Beyond that, there is the long-overdue trilogy fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s flyweight title, and an intriguing featherweight showcase pitting divisional stalwart Brian Ortega against recent arrival Diego Lopes. Add in some fun fights to open up the main card, and there is not much to complain about.

Now to the UFC 306 “O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili” preview:UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

O’Malley’s rise has felt somewhat preordained, at least promotionally, but he has fully lived up to the hype. Now that he’s champion, it’s time for “Suga” to start making his case for greatness with a tough test here. O’Malley was a clear standout on the first edition of Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2017, showing some potential as an exciting striker with some charisma. The UFC quickly decided it was in the O’Malley business, slotting him in high card placements that were above the level of his accomplishments. O’Malley looked solid in his first few appearances, but then disaster struck in his win over Andre Soukhamthath, as he was lucky to survive to a decision victory after suffering a major foot injury late in the fight. O’Malley was then a forgotten man for about two years, owing to both his injury recovery and drug testers railroading his career over a minor issue, but on the plus side, he did appear to put the time off to good use, looking sharper than ever and absolutely electric as a knockout artist. Unfortunately, things quickly went sideways for O’Malley once again, this time in what figured to be a big test against Marlon Vera. “Chito” did well to damage O’Malley with a lot of hard leg kicks, leading him to eventually crumple due to injury. That meant another layoff, and at this point, it was an open question if O’Malley’s body would hold up well enough for him to realize his potential. Upon his return, the UFC slow-played O’Malley to an obvious degree, giving him a series of showcase fights that served their purpose—at least up until the point when he was suddenly thrown into the deep end against former champion Petr Yan at the end of 2022. While O’Malley might not have deserved the decision win that went his way in a close fight, it’s hard to argue that it was by far the most impressive victory of his career. He had not reacted particularly well to the few moments of true adversity that he had experienced throughout his career, and he put in three complete rounds against a dedicated buzzsaw of violence. The result also gave O’Malley enough credibility to be rushed into a title shot against Aljamain Sterling, and he cashed in on the opportunity in impressive fashion. After a slow first round, O’Malley blasted Sterling with a knockout counter to close the show, validating both the hype and the comparisons to Conor McGregor. O’Malley’s first title defense was a bit controversial, at least in the leadup. With no shortage of potential next challengers in a deep division, the call was made to give O’Malley the opportunity to avenge his loss to Vera, who had won his most recent fight but seemed to be clearly outside the list of next contenders. Even adjusting for that, O’Malley’s victory over Vera in March continued his streak of raising the bar. It’s not a shock that he was able to pick Vera apart at will early on, but it was highly impressive that he kept it up for five rounds, addressing both the cardio and durability issues that had been ongoing threads throughout his career. O’Malley is putting together something special, and the best part of it all is that he has a murderer’s row of contenders lined up to try and unseat him. Next up is the long-awaited title shot for Dvalishvili.

It’s a bit funny to go back six or seven years and look at Dvalishvili as he was starting in the UFC, given where he is now. For one, “The Machine” earned his contract when UFC President Dana White watched him score a 15-second knockout via spinning backfist, which was false advertising of sorts. While it reflects Dvalishvili’s balls-to-the-wall approach, the Georgian—both then and now—has been at his best as a relentless wrestler and rarely a finisher. Given how unstoppable Dvalishvili has looked in recent years, it’s still a bit shocking to look back and see that he started his UFC career with two straight losses. Frankie Saenzthrew enough volume to win a decision in the face of Dvalishvili’s massive advantage in control time, and a controversial result against Ricky Simon saw Dvalishvili lose via submission when he was unconscious in a guillotine choke at the final horn. Since then, Dvalishvili has been firing on all cylinders with 10 straight wins, some of which have been absolutely inhuman performances where the Georgian has set a breakneck pace and broke multiple records in terms of takedown volume. Dvalishvili’s last two victories have been particularly difficult to comprehend. A main event win over Yan saw Dvalishvili attempt 49 takedowns while completing 11 of them, and after a rough first round against Henry Cejudo in February, he wound up exhausting and bullying a former Olympic champion wrestler without much trouble. The other impressive part is that Dvalishvili was clearly a top contender even before raising the bar with those two performances. He likely would have gotten his title shot by now if not for his friendship with Sterling, who at one point was even willing to leave the weight class as champion in order to give his friend the opportunity at championship glory. Of course, no fighter is unbeatable, so there are some drawbacks to Dvalishvili’s approach. Even as he has developed as a striker, there still isn’t much in the way of defense in his game. To his credit, Dvalishvili hasn’t really needed it. While some opponents, most notably Marlon Moraes, have cracked him hard in the early going, Dvalishvili has kept bouncing back surprisingly well and going back to breaking his opponent with pace. However, giving O’Malley those openings is an entirely different matter. It’s just a question of whether or not the champion’s precision is enough to close the show on his challenger before Dvalishvili gets things rolling downhill. O’Malley’s gas tank looked much improved against Vera, but history still shows that his cardio is breakable. Given that Dvalishvili is only surviving in this fight if he keeps finding takedowns and that O’Malley is a solid enough grappler to fight the Georgian off, it will probably take multiple rounds of a fast-paced grind for the challenger to find the champion’s breaking point. While it wouldn’t be a shock if Dvalishvili found some takedowns early on, his lack of an immediate submission threat and the rinse-and-repeat nature of his wrestling game means that O’Malley will keep finding opportunities as the fight resets; and it’s hard not to see O'Malley landing a knockout blow when given so many chances to do so. The pick is O’Malley via second-round knockout.

Jump To »
O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili
Grasso vs. Shevchenko
Lopes vs. Ortega
Zellhuber vs. Ribovics
Rodriguez vs. Osbourne
The Prelims

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Preview: UFC 306 ‘O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili’ - O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili

Two title bouts headline the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s historic event at the Sphere on Saturday in Las Vegas.
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any particular prelim fights the experts can suggest we look forward to
 
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