- What: UFC 306
- Who: Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili in the maint event
- When: Saturday, September 14 at 10 p.m. ET
- Where: The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada
- How to watch: PPV event
It's wild to think that the summer is almost coming to a close. Before we shut the door on that and move onto the fall, there's still another major UFC event to get excited about. We're of course talking about UFC 306, which has people all over the planet fired up. In this article, we have our best UFC 306 bets: Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili picks. Which standout will come out on top?
Normally whenever O'Malley enters the octagon, he's the one who is expected to come out on top. In a bit of a twist of things, he's actually the underdog for this main event. That's because a lot of people think Dvalishvili is going to be the one to finally put O'Malley in his place. O'Malley of course isn't worried about the odds - he's more focused on putting on a dominant performance.
| UFC 306 odds |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dvalishvili to win | -105 | -105 | -105 |
| O'Malley to win | -118 | -118 | -118 |
| Over 3.5 rounds | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 3.5 rounds | -110 | -110 | -110 |
“I don’t think he is going to test my wrestling,” O’Malley said in an interview with ESPN. "I don’t think he will be able to. Aljo (Aljamain Sterling) I guess you could say tested my wrestling a little bit. Had me up against the fence twice, didn’t take me down once. I feel like that was a huge win to answer questions about wrestling. Chito (Vera) didn’t even try to take me down once."
According to the best sports betting sites, which includes the reliable Bovada sportsbook review, Dvalishvili indeed is the favorite with -105 betting odds. As for O'Malley, he's right up there too with -118 odds per the top UFC betting sites. This goes to show how close people think this one is going to be. Plenty of people are going with Dvalishvili, but we don't think that's going to be the case.
💥Sean O'Malley believes Merab Dvalishvili is his most favorable matchup right now.
"Going up to 145 lbs to fight Ilia [Topuria] is a more difficult challenge. Going into boxing and fighting one of those guys is more difficult. I'm just trying to make the most exciting and… pic.twitter.com/YFuRErdJ2R
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 23, 2024
Sean O'Malley is our pick to win the main event at UFC 306
It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, but Sean O'Malley is our pick to win the main event at UFC 306. Whenever O'Malley puts the gloves on, he's unreal to watch. In his UFC career, he's 18-1-0. His only loss came up against Ecuadorian star Chito Vera, but there was a lot of controversy surrounding that fight. O'Malley went down with a foot injury, which opened the door for Vera to win.
When the two met again for a rematch, O'Malley dominated and made easy work against him. It was the kind of performance that reminded people just how electric he can be when fighting. Now, he's going to hope to send a big-time statement going up against Dvalishvili. It's not going to be easy, and Dvalishvili is going to be ready to do whatever is needed to come out on top too.
UFC 306 will be rebranded to "Riyadh Season Noche UFC" and take place on September 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas, UFC announced on Wednesday.
"Riyadh Season Noche UFC" continues the tradition of big fights on Mexican Independence Day and will be the first sports event at Sphere. pic.twitter.com/9Oty7e6Z2W
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 27, 2024
"I know I can knock anybody out,” O’Malley told ESPN. “It only takes one mistake. Aljo made a mistake, got his lights put out. Chito, I wasn’t able to put his lights out - very, very tough dude, but I was able to find his chin quite a bit. I believe if I find Merab’s chin the way I was finding Chito’s, the way I found Aljo’s chin, I’m going to get him out of there.”
As we mentioned above, O'Malley holds -118 UFC betting odds per the oddsmakers. This is going to be an incredibly close battle. Dvalishvili has quickness and power, but O'Malley is disciplined and knows what to do to put himself in a position to win. It will be interesting to see how this one goes down, but we're surely going with O'Malley as our pick.
Valentina Shevchenko is a small favorite in the co-main event
Elsewhere, Valentina Shevchenko is a small favorite in the co-main event going up against Alexa Grasso. Similar to the other bout, the odds here are quite tight. Shevchenko has been given -108 UFC betting odds, while Grasso has been set at -118. Again, this shows that analysts think this is going to be a back-and-forth war between the two.
Both of these fighters are pretty evenly matched up, as Shevchenko is 23-4-1 in her career, while Grasso is 16-3-1. On paper, you'd think Shevchenko would be the one to have her hand raised by the end of the night, but we don't think that's going to be the case this time around. Grasso is our pick to win and we think she'll do so via a knockout.
