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Like every UFC night, this Saturday, Sept. 14's show promises intense, adrenaline-filled action as bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley makes his second title defense against Georgia's Merab Dvalishvili on a night that will be seasoned with a big Mexican flavor.
On the weekend of the Fiestas Patrias in Mexico, the card is complemented by several Mexican fighters, starting with the women's flyweight champion, Mexican Alexa Grasso, who defends her belt against a former champion of the same category, Valentina Shevchenko.
The fight will be held this weekend at the elegant and modern The Sphere, in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the weekend in which the Mexican Independence Day is celebrated in Mexico, so UFC did not hesitate to make this card a real Mexican party.
In addition to Grasso, another Mexican, Daniel Zellhuber, as well as Ronaldo Rodriguez, will be on the main card, while Irene Aldana, Manuel Torres, Yazmin Jauregui, Edgar Chairez and Raul Rosas Jr. will be fighting in the prelims.
In the main event, O'Malley (18-1) has seven consecutive wins, including a decision win over Marlon Vera in what was the first defense of his title, and according to ESPN's world rankings, O'Malley is ranked fourth in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Dvalishvili (17-4) has 10 wins, the last of which came last February when he defeated two-time former champion Henry Cejudo, also by decision.
Meanwhile, the Grasso-Shevchenko fight has a lot of history behind it, after the two fighters drew in September of last year, after the Mexican took the title from the Kyrgyzstan native by submission in the fourth round.
Grasso is ranked No. 2 in ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings, while Shevchenko is No. 3.
Where to watch UFC 306 in the United States?
Preliminary fights will be available on ESPNNews, and on the ESPN app, while the main card will air on ESPN+ and its PPV.
The complete UFC 306 card
Here are this weekend's fights, with the prelims kicking off at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 PT), and the main event kicks off at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT).
Main card
- Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili, bantamweight title fight
- Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko, for the women's flyweight title
- Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes, featherweight title
- Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics, Lightweight
- Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Ode' Osbourne, Flyweight
Preliminary fights
- Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont, Female Bantamweight
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres, light heavyweight
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza, women's strawweight
- Édgar Cháirez vs. Kevin Borjas, flyweight
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng, bantamweight
How much money will the fighters make at UFC 306?
There is no official data on the purses so as is usually the case in these cases, a projection can be made based on their previous earnings.
O'Malley could receive the biggest payday, after according to BetMGM, he pocketed $2.3 million in his win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299, including his percentage of the PPV, so it is expected that at UFC 306 he could take home between $2.5 to $3 million.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili earned $221,000 against Henry Cejudo at UFC 298, and his base salary for UFC 306 could be around $300,000, plus bonuses for bonuses, performance and PPV.