UFC 306 picks and predictions

Who's gonna get a win in the SPHERE?

Dana White when he sees a Power Slap promo dominate the Las Vegas skyline. Art by Chris Rini.

Dana White’s latest passion project is almost here. No, not a hastily cut together video that calls us in the MMA media dweebs and sport-killers. No, not even a new spin on his slap show — like maybe just guys taking turns poking each other in the eyes. No, this weekend we’re treated to the budget busting UFC 306 at the mega-weird, but pretty cool looking Sphere in Las Vegas. This event has been given the Noche UFC tag and has been touted as an ode to Mexican Independence. That’s despite the Saudi promos and the main event having pitting an Irish-American from Montana against a Georgian who trains out of Long Island.

The card itself is pretty interesting with the aforementioned Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili locking horns for the UFC bantamweight belt. The co-main is a trilogy fight for the flyweight title between Mexico’s Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. The main card also has Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes, at least we hope it does.

The pick of the prelims is Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng. That’s the curtain jerker for the evening.

So who is going to win under the wild video displays that will litter the insides/outsides of the Sphere? Well, that’s what we’re here to tell you.

Scroll down for all our picks for Noche UFC 306 Riyadh Season on Ice Part Deux.

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Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Miguel: You can check out my full preview for this fight here, but I’ll summarize it briefly. I’m picking Merab, but I recognize the danger that O’Malley presents, especially early. 

In my preview I outlined what I think would be a viable strategy for the champion to actually win rounds. A lot of it is relatively straightforward: he should keep his back off the fence, rely on his jabs and pivots to do that, and attack the body with front kicks and punches as those will be a safer way to rack up damage. The jab being the most important because he’ll need to constantly be sticking it in Merab’s face to stop that relentless forward pressure.