3 days Ago By Tom Taylor
UFC 306 may not have been the most stacked pay-per-view in the promotion's history, but it opened the door to a couple of very compelling title fights. That includes the next Octagon appearance of Georgia's Merab Dvalishvili, who became the bantamweight champion with a lopsided decision win over Sean O'Malley in the main event, and Kyrgyzstan's Valentina Shevchenko, who became the first two-time women's flyweight champ in UFC history with a similarly dominant win over Mexico's Alexa Grasso. Shevchenko's win was was particularly important for her division, as she and Grasso had been tied up with a three-fight rivalry for over a year.
Outside the two title fights atop the bill, the biggest winner of the night was undoubtedly No. 13-ranked featherweight Diego Lopes, who set himself for a massive jump up the rankings with an exciting decision win over the third-ranked Brian Ortega. It remains to be seen who he'll fight next, but it's now irrefutable that he's one of the top dogs in the division.
Keep scrolling to see what we'd like to happen next for Dvalishvili, Shevchenko, and Lopes, as well as the vanquished champs O'Malley and Grasso. After defeating Sean O'Malley at UFC 306, the new bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili has options. The top two options are clearly undefeated Russian Umar Nurmagomedov, and former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo.
If you ask Dvalishvili, the next man in line should be Figueiredo — and there's some merit to that suggestion. Since moving up to bantamweight, the former flyweight champ has dominated top-flight foes in Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt, and Marlon "Chito" Vera. However, Nurmagomedov seems like the better choice.
Not only does the Russian's perfect 18-0 record give him some clout, but he's riding a win over Cory Sandhagen who, as one of the top fighters at bantamweight right now, is a more valuable victory than any of Figueiredo's bantamweight wins. A Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov fight would make for a very compelling fight on paper, and it would get a lot of attention based on the former's affiliation with lightweight greats Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
Book it, and trust that Figueiredo will be the next man in line. Sean O'Malley's bantamweight title run ended as quickly as it began. Now, it's time for the popular knockout artist to get back to the drawing board.
There is clearly no better option for his next fight than Cory Sandhagen. Sandhagen is riding a close decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov, but remains one of the bantamweight division's best and most popular fighters. He and O'Malley are close neighbours in the rankings, and more importantly, match up beautifully on paper, as a pair of rangy strikers with sharp technique, fight-ending power, and underrated jiu jitsu.
It may not be a title fight, but this is one of the best fights the UFC can make right now — in any division. It could easily headline a Fight Night card, or co-headline a pay-per-view. Valentina Shevchenko is back on the flyweight throne, and while her rivalry with Alexa Grasso was good fun, it's a relief it's over.
The two stars have been battling for over a year, allowing a queue of deserving contenders to form in their weight class. At this point, the most deserving contender of the bunch is clearly France's Manon Fiorot. "The Beast" is riding a crazy win streak that includes a host of former title challengers and champions, such as Mayra Bueno Silva, Jennifer Maia, Katlyn Cerminara, and Rose Namajunas.
Her latest win was arguably the best of the bunch, as she picked up a decision victory over fellow top contender Erin Blanchfield to cement herself as the next woman in line for a title shot. Anything else would frankly be a travesty. The Frenchwoman deserves it, and she has as good a shot as anybody at defeating the great Shevchenko.
Alexa Grasso ultimately came up short in her three-fight rivalry with Valentina Shevchenko — much to the ire of the Mexican fans packed into the Sphere for UFC 306, which occurred on Mexican Independence Day. While it's unlikely she'll get a fourth fight with Shevchenko any time soon, she is probably only a win or two away from another shot at the belt she held for most of this and last year. Our pick for her next opponent is Tracy Cortez.
Cortez is riding a loss to former strawweight champ Rose Namajunas in a short-notice fight, but has proven herself as a tough test for most fighters at flyweight. She seems like the perfect bounce-back for Grasso, and stands to completely change her fortunes in the division if she pulls of an unlikely win. Diego Lopes is one of the fighters of the moment.
He entered his UFC 306 fight with two-time featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega with a ton of hype, and ultimately justified that hype with a decision win that featured a number of knockdowns. At this point, he's probably deserving of a featherweight title shot, but he'll have to wait until reigning champ Ilia Topuria takes on former champ Max Holloway at UFC 308. It's possible he'll be booked for another fight in the meantime, but he's been keeping a hectic schedule lately, and it seems like a good idea for him to take a breather, heal up, and wait for a crack at the winner.
Whomever that winner is, Lopes will be considered a very dangerous challenger — and maybe even a betting favorite..
