UFC 306 saw the Bantamweight title change hands to Merab Dvalishvili in a dominant unanimous decision victory
Riyadh Season Noche UFC (UFC 306) was a “One and done” show at Sphere in Las Vegas. It was a spectacle with the UFC utilising the arena’s 16k x 16k resolution 240-foot tall screen. Coined a love letter to Mexico the promotion displayed differnet 90 second short films before each bout.
Recapping Mexico’s rich combat sports history, with each short film came a different graphic theme on the Sphere screen. An incredible event to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, topped off by equally incredbile fights.
The card was headlined by the UFC title fight between “Suga” Sean O’Malley and “The Machine” Merab Dvalishvili. In trademark Merab style his machine-like cardio saw him dominate O’Malley to a unanimous decision victory to claim Bantamweight gold.
Now the champion of the 135lb division, with countless names waiting in line for a shot, who will Merab defend his title against first?
Merab Dvalishvili Sets up His First Title Defence
After stringing together a three-fight win streak and recovering from a torn tricep many thought Cory Sandhagen was deserving of a title shot. But instead of waiting on a shot Cory dared to be great welcoming dark horse of the division Umar Nurmagomedov to a fight.
For all his confidence, Nurmagomedov would ultimately win putting himself next in line for a title shot, in the eyes of many. But Merab seems to not share the same views.
In the UFC 306 post-fight press conference he seemed more keen to face former Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Praising Figueiredo for his exciting fight style and beleiving his is more deserving due to having more wins over ranked opposition.
Whilst admitting he is open to fighting anyone, Merab Dvalishvili made his preferences clear stating:
“Whoever they want, I will fight next, but I want to talk to Dana, I want to become his friend… I want to fight the top of the top, you know. I think Figueiredo would be my fifth champion, he is more dangerous, knockout power, good Jiu-Jitsu makes people [go to] sleep.
That’s why this fight excites me, gives me motivation, makes me work hard… Umar is okay but I’m telling you guys, from the top 15 he’s only won one fight.”
Nurmagomedov’s lack of ranked opposition is arguably no fault of his own, with many fighters avoiding him due to his well-rounded skill set. But with the equally elite grappling of Umar, both him and Merab would make for a very interesting fight.
But who will the UFC face off against Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili next?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
