UFC Noche is right around the corner, and it is time to prepare for the biggest UFC event of the year. With a venue as notable as the Las Vegas Sphere, UFC president Dana White promises an event of high action and great cinematics. 

The first fight on the main card will be a flyweight fight between Ronaldo Rodriguez and Ode Osbourne. Rodriguez is seven years younger than Osbourne, who is coming off a brutal round-one submission loss in March. That being said, Osbourne has a significant reach advantage over Rodriguez and has been in the UFC for a lot longer. Nonetheless, Rodriguez is the favorite, as Osbourne’s career has been on a steady decline, losing three out of his last five fights. 

The second fight on the main card includes Daniel Zellhuber, as he sets off to face Esteban Ribovics in a lightweight bout. Both of these fighters only have one loss on their resumes, which is an impressive feat. However, Zellhuber holds the two-win advantage. Ribovics is coming off an extremely impressive first-round knockout and has had more first-round knockouts than Zellhuber in their respective careers. Zellhuber has yet to score a knockout in his four-fight UFC career but has had success in other affiliations. Zellhuber is the favorite, mostly due to his ability to submit opponents, which is something Ribovics has yet to do in the UFC.

The third fight on the main card is an exciting featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes. Lopes is a rising star and is the No. 12 ranked fighter in the featherweight division. Ortega will prove to be his toughest task yet, as he is the No. 3 ranked fighter in the featherweight division. A win for Lopes here would push him into the top 10, possibly even the top five of ranked fighters in this competitive featherweight division, one ruled by one of UFC Noche’s main event competitors, Sean O’Malley. Both fighters are good wrestlers, but Lopes holds a slight striking advantage and a reach advantage. Lopes has seven more knockout wins than Ortega in his MMA career, and his ability to strike and grapple makes him the favorite to beat Ortega. Ortega is an experienced fighter who has gone the distance with Alexander Volkanovski, so it will be interesting to see if he can stunt the rising growth of Diego Lopes. 

The Co-Main Event will be a women’s flyweight title fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. Grasso initially won her title off of Shevchenko back in 2023. Then, in a scheduled rematch between the two fighters in that same year, part two of Grasso and Shevchenko ended in a draw, meaning Alexa Grasso retains her title thanks to the decisions made by the judges. This controversy sparked the third fight between these two. Neither of these fighters has amounted to many knockouts in the UFC, however, Grasso has landed significantly more strikes per minute than Shevchenko. The path towards winning for Shevchenko will have to come from her grappling, as she has shown the ability to easily takedown opponents, while also being hard to takedown herself. The betting odds are near even on this fight.

The Main Event of the evening will see “Suga” Sean O’Malley go to war against Merab Dvalishvili in a bantamweight title bout. Merab is one of many international wrestling sensations that took control of the UFC. Dvalishvili’s impressive wrestling skills are sure to challenge O’Malleys near-perfect striking. Merab is currently on a ten-fight win streak and is great at winning judge decisions at the end of a fight. However, if there is one man in the UFC who does not care about the judges, it is Sean O’Malley. This is because O’Malley usually knocks his opponent out before any scoring can be done. Sean O’Malley beat another impressive wrestler Aljamain Sterling to win the belt back in 2023. This win proved O’Malley can beat competitive wrestlers. However, Merab is no ordinary wrestler, as he specializes in taking his opponents down, and is averaging around six takedowns every three-round fight. O’Malley, who never really had a chance to show his wrestling skills, will have to show if he can maintain a high level of takedown defense.

Overall, this event promises a lot of close and competitive fights. It should be interesting to see who comes away with the wins. Will there be any title changes? Injuries? Controversy? UFC 306 will answer all of these questions, in what should be an exciting night in Las Vegas.

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