UFC 306 Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili
Introduction
UFC 306 is coming to Las Vegas on September 14th and will be headlined by a huge main event at 135lbs.
MAIN EVENT
After months of rumors, and the last few weeks of increasing excitement and speculation, it’s official. The UFC Bantamweight Championship will be on the line in a high profile battle between two fan favorites:
Sean O’Malley (C) vs Merab Dvalishvili (#1 contender)
Let’s take a closer look at these two mixed martial artists…
Suga Sean O’Malley
The Suga(r) Show, Sean O’Malley – Team Sanabul Athlete, alongside Max “Blessed” Holloway and Gilbert “Durinho” Burns – looks to make his second title defense of the UFC Bantamweight Championship against “The Machine”.
Sean looks to improve his 18-1-0 (1NC) record – or according to him: an undefeated 18-0-0 – and extend his impressive 3 fight winning streak. By defeating another elite opponent in Merab (17-4), the following list would represent his new 4 fight winning streak (if he wins):
OCT 2022
Defeated Petr “No Mercy” Yan via SD
AUG 2023
Defeated Aljamain “Funkmaster” Sterling via KO/TKO (won BW title)
MAR 2024
Defeated Marlon “Chito” Vera via UD (1st BW title defense)
SEP 2024
Merab Dvalishvili (2nd BW title defense)
This list speaks for itself, as it includes two former champions and two top contenders from a stacked division known as the UFC’s Bantamweight shark tank.
Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili
On the other side, Merab is looking to take Sean’s UFC gold and become the new king of the bantamweight division. He is on a 10 fight winning streak, looking to make it 11. Similar to how Sean’s last three wins were over very high-level opponents, Merab’s last three wins are also very, very impressive:
AUG 2022
Defeated Jose Aldo via UD
MAR 2023
Defeated Petr “No Mercy” Yan via UD
FEB 2024
Defeated Henry “The Messenger / Triple C” Cejudo via UD
Location: More on the Sphere (Las Vegas, Nevada) and Riyadh Season
Las Vegas is known by many as the fight capital of the world. From boxing to mma, Vegas has held many high profile combat sports events – something that will continue on Saturday, Sept. 14, when the second “Noche UFC” event celebrating Mexican Independence Day (with Shevchenko vs Grasso II taking place last year) will be held.
Per a UFC press release:
“Riyadh Season Noche UFC continues a great tradition in combat sports of holding big fights around Mexican Independence Day to celebrate and honor the remarkable contributions of Mexican fighters to combat sports. UFC will take the celebration to an unprecedented level as Riyadh Season Noche UFC will become the first sports event at Sphere, the revolutionary entertainment venue in Las Vegas.”
Mexican Main Event?
Since UFC 306 heavily revolves around the celebration of Mexican culture, fans have speculated on whether or not the main event should feature a Mexican fighter.
In a February interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Sean O’Malley mentions that he had his sights on the September 14th Mexican Independence Day card. The mma journalist implies that Sean fighting on this card could be interesting, as there could be some link to the Mexican people. They discussed Merab as a potential opponent and Ariel even says that “Merab has been sort of adopted by Mexican fans” (around 9:56 in the video).
For context, Helwani said this because of how quickly the Mexican fans got behind Merab, in support of him in his fight against Henry Cejudo.
Tension between Henry Cejudo and Mexican Fans
Henry Cejudo, a Mexican American, had made some comments that had upset Mexican fans in the buildup to his fight with Merab Dvalishvili, as seen below:
"You guys will never see me with the Mexican flag." pic.twitter.com/SzfAggU1UQ
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) October 15, 2022
“First and foremost I am an American…You will never see me with the Mexican flag”
Cejudo went on to defend his statements in an appearance on Daniel “DC” Cormier’s talk show:
Let me explain true loyalty to all you Mexicans and Mexican’ts. I am American Mexican and I am the most loyal guy I know. #bendtheknee pic.twitter.com/oYlgIxTJfT
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) January 27, 2022
Henry Cejudo is a patriotic American, who represented America in the 2008 Olympics. It was here where he earned the Olympic Gold Medal in Freestyle Wrestling, becoming the youngest American Olympian to win Olympic Gold (21 years old).
The entire situation seemed as though Cejudo was just trying to express his love and appreciation for the United States. However, this message may have gotten lost in the way he said it, as the focus turned from his gratitude for America toward a potential misunderstanding/misinterpretation of him “betraying” his Mexican heritage.
Mexican Support for Merab
With this controversy being a big headline during the leadup to their bout, Merab took the opportunity to tell Mexican fans that he would represent them in his fight against Cejudo, pulling out a Mexican flag at the press conference to thunderous applause:
Merab Dvalishvili pulls out a Mexican flag and say he will "make Mexico proud" by beating Henry Cejudo at #UFC298 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/mtmttL2W2K
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 16, 2024
A very eventful route to get there, but that is the context behind why Helwani claims Merab has been adopted by the Mexican fans and why the Mexican fans have supported Merab so heavily since his fight with Cejudo
O’Malley’s Mexican Representation
After hearing Ariel’s comments about Mexican support for Merab, Sean O’Malley countered with his representation of Mexico. He showed Ariel his UFC Championship belt with the Mexican flag displayed on one of the side plates (at the 11:16 mark in the interview, he showed the belt with the Mexican flag). He explained that the UFC asks champions which flag they want on the belt and the choice that Sean made was the Mexican flag, because his wife and daughter are both Mexican.
More on Sean O’Malley’s relationship with Mexico in a separate article (here)
Notable UFC 306 Fights
The main event of UFC 306 will have a big impact on the state of the bantamweight division and is sure to entertain. Fans of mixed martial arts can expect a great show from the other fights on the card as well, as there are some big names and fights taking place on September 14th. We will update this article as more fights come, so stay tuned!
TEAM SANABUL
Sean O’Malley is a member of Team Sanabul and has been working with us since 2017. Since then, we’ve collaborated with Suga on some really cool mma gear that has the looks to impress and the quality to last. Check out some of the past Suga x Sanabul collaborations, along with a brand new one at the links below:
LIMITED EDITION, LIMITED QUANTITY, NO RESTOCKS*
Thank you for reading - we hope this was a helpful summary of the main event at UFC 306!
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