The highly anticipated UFC 306 event takes place at the Las Vegas Sphere this Saturday at 7:30 PM EST. Even if you're not a fight fan, checking out this card may be worthwhile due to the jaw-dropping visuals the venue presents.
On top of that, one of the top stars for the company is headlining. That would be "Suga" Sean O'Malley, and he will take on Merab Dvalishvili in the main event for the Bantamweight title. Check out our best bet for their clash and 3 others leading up to it below.
We start our betting card on the prelims for what should be an exciting fight between Manuel Torres and Ignacio Bahamondes. They have combined for 25 finishes and are coming off first-round TKOs from earlier this year.
Even though both have shown to be hittable, I favor Torres due to the power advantage he should have. Bahamondes has the length, but he's been tagged by smaller guys who have been in boxing range with him.
Seeing that Torres is also on the lankier side for the 155 division, I don't see him having many issues finding Bahamondes' chin, and if his cardio holds up, he should lead on damage if we were to see the scorecards.
The rising star looks to pass his biggest test yet when he takes on longtime Featherweight contender Brian Ortega. These two were originally scheduled for UFC 303 in June, but Ortega pulled out hours before due to illness.
Ortega's success has been dependent on his ability to get fights to the mat. The bad news there is that Lopes is no slouch in the grappling department and should be more than equipped to at least stay out of danger if Ortega is able to take him down.
If so, Ortega has taken too much punishment on the feet in recent fights to trust against a hard hitter like Lopes. Lopes has 10 TKO wins, and 2 of his 5 UFC wins have been by such. With both making weight today, look for Lopes' grappling skills to negate Ortega's. From there, Lopes should do enough damage on the feet for either a stoppage or a decision win.
Our co-main of the night will complete the trilogy between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. The first fight ended in submission once Grasso locked in a rear naked choke on the former champ. Their next fight ended in a controversial draw at the previous Noche UFC event last year.
Grasso has won too many of the striking exchanges in the 9 rounds of action for me not to take her. Although Shevchenko has the grappling edge, the thought is that a younger Grasso could come in with improved takedown defense so she can continue to score with her boxing.
Meanwhile, Shevchenko is another year older and was knocked down in their last fight. Father time has come for a couple of high-level fighters so far this year, and this matchup feels like the same could happen for the former longtime champ if she's unable to dominate on the mat.
Kudos to you if you got O'Malley at plus money when lines opened. The number has now flipped for his second title defense against Merab Dvalishvili, but I still like a Suga Show win at this number.
The Machine is a perfect nickname for Dvalishvili. He pushes his chain wrestling with his near-perfect cardio for however long he needs to. He's constantly moving forward in an attempt to break his opponents with the fast pacing of his fights.
O'Malley is a gifted striker, but he has shown that he can be taken down in fights. Petr Yan scored 6 takedowns against the champ in their controversial fight, and Dvalishvili had no issues successfully grappling with Yan.
However, Yan also brings a striking threat to his fights, and that's something I think Dvalishvili is missing. With O'Malley only having to worry about takedowns, I think he uses his footwork and angles well to find Dvalishvili's chin with a clean shot once he times Dvalishvili’s advances.
Damage is the number one criteria, so taking the champ who holds a significant striking edge is the play here. I like O'Malley by late TKO or decision.