''UFC 306: O'Malley vs. Dvalishvili'' (also known as ''Noche UFC 2'' and branded as ''Riyadh Season Noche UFC'' for sponsorship reasons) was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event produced by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

that took place on September 14, 2024, at the

Sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

, part of the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

, United States.

Background

Production

UFC 306 was UFC's second event (after 2023's UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2) to be held under the "Noche UFC" banner—a commemoration of Mexico's independence day in which all but one of the matches on the card (the main event between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili) featured at least one fighter of Mexican or

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

descent. As UFC's usual Las Vegas venue

T-Mobile Arena T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International ...

had already been booked by

Canelo Álvarez Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990), commonly known as Canelo or Saúl Álvarez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from light middlewe ...

for his independence day fight against

Edgar Berlanga Edgar Luis Berlanga Jr. (born May 18, 1997) is an American professional boxer who challenged for the unified super middleweight championship in 2024. Early life Berlanga was born to the large Nuyorican community of Brooklyn, to parents from P ...

, UFC booked Sphere instead as a one-off event, marking the venue's first live sporting event. UFC founder

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

had previously attended a concert during U2's opening residency at Sphere and was impressed by the venue's technology, stating that UFC 306 planned to "take what U2 did and multiply it by a million." Television director

Glenn Weiss Glenn Weiss is an American producer and director of television and live events. He has won 14 Emmy Awards and eight Directors Guild of America awards as a director and producer for various awards shows and reality shows including the Tony Awards ...

and Mexican-American filmmaker

Carlos López Estrada Carlos López Estrada (born September 12, 1988) is a Mexican-American filmmaker, music video director, commercial director, theatre director, and actor. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States when he was 12 and later enrolled at Chapman ...

were brought on to oversee the production of the event, including the content that would be displayed on Sphere's 16K resolution video display. The main card was divided into six acts which chronicled the

history of Mexico The history of Mexico spans over three millennia, with the earliest evidence of hunter-gatherer settlement 13,000 years ago. Central and southern Mexico, known as Mesoamerica, saw the rise of complex civilizations that developed glyphic writing ...

from the perspective of combat; each act consisted of a 90-second introductory vignette played before each match, and an accompanying "world" that served as a backdrop on the screen during the match. The use of Sphere resulted in UFC 306 having a higher production cost of around $20 million, in comparison to the approximately $2 million that is spent on other UFC pay-per-view events. UFC would sell a

title sponsorship Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

to an event for the first time, in which UFC 306 was marketed as "

Riyadh Season Riyadh Season () is a series of entertainment, cultural, and sporting events held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The event was introduced in 2019 by the General Entertainment Authority as part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative in s ...

Noche UFC" under an agreement with Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority. Due to the production costs, UFC's long-term agreement with T-Mobile Arena operator

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American Multinational corporation, multinational hospitality, sports and entertainment company. It operates resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Macau, Shanghai, ...

, and the circumstances that necessitated it, White stated that it was unlikely that UFC would host another Las Vegas event at Sphere, and referred to UFC 306 as an event that "

ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...

never be done again". However, he added that "if some new technology pops up, I guarantee you I will be first."

Fight card

UFC Bantamweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC Championship#Title match system, championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, ...

bout between current champion Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili headlined the event. A UFC Women's Flyweight Championship trilogy bout between current champion

Alexa Grasso Karen Alexa Grasso Montes (born August 9, 1993) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist who competes in the women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is a former UFC Women's Flyweight Champion. Gr ...

and former champion

Valentina Shevchenko Valentina Anatolyevna Shevchenko (born March 7, 1988) is a Kyrgyz professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, former Muay Thai fighter and Kickboxing, kickboxer. She currently competes in the women's Flyweight (MMA), Flyweight divisi ...

took place at the co-main event. The pairing first met at UFC 285 in March 2023, where Grasso won the title by fourth round submission upset. Their second meeting took place at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 in September 2023, which the bout ended by split draw. The pairing previously coached on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko against each other.

Manon Fiorot Manon Caroline Fiorot (born February 17, 1990) is a French mixed martial artist, currently competing in the women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of April 2, 2024, she is #2 in the UFC women's flyweight ran ...

served as backup and potential replacement for this fight. A featherweight bout between former UFC Featherweight Championship challenger

Brian Ortega Brian Martin Ortega (born February 21, 1991) is an American professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professiona ...

and

Diego Lopes Diego Lopes may refer to: *Diego Lopes (footballer) (born 1994), Brazilian footballer *Diego Lopes (fighter) Diego Lopes da Silva (born 30 December 1994) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherw ...

took place at the event. The pair was previously expected to meet at UFC 303, but Ortega withdrew just hours before the bout due to illness. A middleweight bout between former LFA Middleweight Champion Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira was scheduled for this event. However, the bout was moved to UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs. Pereira to serve as the main event. A flyweight bout between Édgar Cháirez and Kevin Borjas was scheduled for this event. However, Borjas withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Joshua Van.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber *Performance of the Night: Ignacio Bahamondes and Ketlen Souza

Records set

The event generated $21,829,245 in ticket receipts, which broke the record for the biggest gate in UFC history surpassing

UFC 205 ''UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor'' was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In what was described by UFC president Dana White as t ...

(which previously held the record with a gate of $17,700,000). UFC 306 also now holds highest-grossing records for the following: sales for VIP experiences, merchandise sales at a UFC event, single event ticket sales at the Sphere venue, and sponsorship sales (based on the partnership with

References

{{2024 in mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events 2024 in UFC September 2024 sports events in the United States 2024 in sports in Nevada Ultimate Fighting Championship events in Paradise, Nevada Sphere (venue)